


What the hell happened to Shadyside

by MerMagicAnaLily



Series: Hellhole and other stories [1]
Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Corruption, Cyberbullying, Depression, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Gen, Homophobia, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Mentions of Rape, Multi, Racism, Sexism, They’ll get better, Transphobia, Violence, everything sucks, in the future, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-08-13 12:22:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20174188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerMagicAnaLily/pseuds/MerMagicAnaLily
Summary: Amber was gone one school year, leaving her friends in good places and good hands...so to speak. But maybe those hands weren’t as good as she thought. Friends are now enemies, people are different, and where the hell is Andi Mack?!Based on a prompt by Tumblr user tjmuffin





	1. Leaving and Coming Home - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tjmuffin](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=tjmuffin).

** _AMBER_ **

To say Amber had the summer of her life would be an understatement. For the first time, people didn’t hate her, and she didn’t give them a reason for them to hate her. She and T.J. were finally accepted despite all the hardships their family endured. When she broke the news about going to a boarding school in Paris that would help advance her fashion design, everyone was happy for her, but they cried, knowing they were going to miss her. 

Texting and calling would be limited by the time difference and data plans, not to mention her school enforced a one year limited tech session. The school believed that having a separation from technology in the first year would get the creative juices flowing, so letters were what she relied on. 

As Amber was on the plane headed back to Shadyside, she fondly remembered her last day there before she left for Paris. 

* * *

_ She and T.J. left the house together to go to the “Goodbye Amber and Andi” party, since they were both headed to their respective schools the next day. Of course, Andi was just going to be a few towns over most of the time, but that would still mean seeing their friends less and less. _

_ “Nervous?” T.J. asked her after a while of silence. _

_ “A bit. Making new friends? You know how hard it was to make these guys my friends.” _

_ “Well, now we’re both better people, especially because of our friends,” he said. “You’re going to be great over there in Paris, though try to remember us little people eventually,” he joked.  _

_ She laughed as she came across the party, and everyone was just finishing setting up. They were at Andi’s Grandma’s house, the place of all epic parties, and each of them hugged her one by one, saying how much they were going to miss her.  _

* * *

T.J. was the one who picked her up from the airport since their mom was still at work and had no way to get off of it. Amber squealed and rushed over to hug him. 

“It is way too cruel not seeing you for a whole year, Thel,” she said, hugging him tightly.

“You have no idea Amber,” he said, squeezing her tightly and kissing the top of her head. “Mom and I missed you so damn much.”

“Well, you needed my fabulousness in your daily lives it seems,” she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder jokingly. 

“Nah, it was too quiet at home. Who knew you were ninety percent of the noise at home was just you?” 

She laughed and shoved him to the side as he put her stuff in the family car. “I can’t wait to just have a few months of relaxing, seeing old sights, speaking English,” she groaned a little. “Do you know how hard French is?”

“Yeah, I’ve been picking up a bit of some foreign languages actually.”

“Really? Like Spanish?”

“Portuguese. There’s a handful of people on the team who speak it, so I picked up a few words.”

“Oh, awesome,” she said, leaning against the window. “Hey, you think we can go to The Spoon? I want to see if it’s the same as I remember it. I’ve been craving some decent baby taters.”

T.J. bit his lip for a minute, but nodded. “Sure, I’ll take us to The Spoon.”

* * *

_ “I still can’t believe you used to work here,” Cyrus said at the booth. T.J.’s arm was around his shoulders and they were eating their prized taters. “You were not a good waitress.” _

_ “Maybe not in waitstaff standards,” she said. “But I worked my little butt off,” she argued back. “And I always looked out for my friends.” _

_ “Pretty sure you saved Jonah a couple of times back in the day,” he responded. “Too bad we hated each other at first, scorpion,” he said smiling. “You’re a great person, and we’re all lucky to have really gotten to know you.” _

_ “And I’m lucky to have gotten to know you,” she said. “You guys made me a better person.” _

* * *

“Wow,” Amber said, looking around. “This place has not changed a bit. I bet I could even fool the managers by putting on my old uniform and dropping milkshakes onto people’s laps, and even get paid for the week,” she joked. 

“As long as it’s not mine,” he said, sitting across from her. 

“So...baby taters?” 

He actually winced, and Amber caught it. “I think I’ll go with regular fries...and a burger,” he said quickly. 

“Really Jag?” She said. “You love Baby Taters.”

“I kinda got sick of it,” he mumbled. 

She was about to say something she saw someone go through the door. “Cyrus!” She called him over, and T.J.’s jaw hardened. 

Cyrus looked over and smiled at Amber, and the smile wavered when he laid eyes on T.J., but he shook it off, deciding to at least see the friend he hadn’t seen in over a year. He went over and hugged her, but stayed standing after. “Amber, it is amazing seeing you! You look great!”

“Thanks! So do you! That hair! Your clothes! You’re more comfortable in your skin, aren’t you?”

“I could say the same about you! Fashion designing in Paris sounds amazing,” he said, putting his hand on the back of her booth.

“Well, I’m not working for Channel or anything like that,” she joked. “But some of my teachers do…”

“Well look who’s fancy!” He said smiling.

“Come! Join us! We can get taters!”

His smile wavered. “Well, love to, but I can’t, People to do, things to see...next time...T.J….” he nodded tersely.

“Cyrus,” he responded the same way.

Cyrus hugged Amber again and then left. She watched him leave then turned to T.J.

“What the hell was all that about?”

“What was what?”

“Last time you and Cyrus were in the same room and I was here, you guys couldn’t stop touching each other.”

“We broke up,” he said. “Not in the mood to talk about it.”

“I’m sorry about that…” she said. “Even that, you guys were best friends. That doesn’t just disappear.”

T.J. sighed and looked around. “Look, you can still be friends with him and whatever,” he said. “But Cyrus Goodman is the worst human being on this planet.” He huffed and got up. “I’m going to check in at work and tell them I’m going to skip work this week. I’ll be back in a bit.” He walked out the door and turned the street, leaving Amber in shock. 

She turned again and looked forward and saw another familiar figure.

* * *

_ “Amber,” Jonah Beck hugged her while she was standing at the soda fountains, getting more coke. “I can’t believe you’re getting sent all the way over to another country.” _

_ “I’m not even being *sent* away Beck,” she said. “I’m following my dreams, the same way you are.” _

_ “Well, we’re all going to miss you,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. _

_ “You were the first person to see the good in me, you know,” Amber said. “When we dated?” _

_ “Well, now I’m the one who has to apologize,” he said. “I was a pretty lousy boyfriend then.” _

_ “Yeah, you were,” she said. “But, you’re getting better. You’re learning that there’s more to being a boyfriend than the dates and the kissing.”  _

_ He chuckled and nodded. He seemed to radiate sunshine from his smile. “Maybe I shouldn’t date for a while, and just be a good friend.” _

_ “I think that’s a good decision you’re making there,” she said. “Just be yourself and learn a bit more. You’ll do great like that.” _

* * *

Jonah Beck sat in the booth of the far side of the spoon. He usually liked wearing brighter colors and a smile never seemed to leave his face. At least, that’s what he looked like on her last day in Shadyside. 

She now knew why she didn’t recognize him the first time she came in. He was wearing all black and dark grey, long pants and sleeves even though it was the a hot summer, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up and pulled pretty tightly together, though not too tight, and he looked like he had dark bags under his eyes. The face that used to carry a smile as naturally as it was to walk looked like it never smiled in it’s life. And instead of sitting down comfortably, he was sunk as low as he could possibly be.

Amber looked away from him and then all around the dinner, like she was searching for clues. 

**What the hell happened to Shadyside?**


	2. Returning: Part 2

Amber sat there perplexed. Jonah beck was never one to shrink back, and he always had a smile on his face. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he was drinking a black coffee. She kept looking, debating whether or not to go to him and talk to him. They did date for a while, before Amber came to terms with her sexuality and came out as a lesbian. She debated, and then got up and sat down in front of him.

“Hey stranger,” she said with a gentle smile.

He looked up. “Amber? I didn’t know you came back from Paris.”

“Just did. Plane literally got here a few hours ago. Came here first thing. My bags are still even in the car.”

He gave her a weak smile, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s good to see you again. So, you’re here for the whole summer?”

“Yeah, but I’ll be visiting and texting more next year. Now that the stupid school restrictions will lighten up.”

“Yeah, it’d be good to see some updates from you. The radio silence was a little off.”

“I’m so sorry about that,” she said that. “But I’ll be able to talk to you and the guys a lot more often.”

“Oh...yeah…the guys.”

She frowned. “I missed a lot, didn’t I?”

“You have no idea,” he said with a dry chuckle. “But...I’m not really in the mood to talk about that...or to really talk in general.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “Whenever then. My phone is still the old number.”

He nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll see you around, Amber.”

She nodded again and got up, going back to her table and feeling weird. That wasn’t Jonah, that was Jonah’s shell. She watched him pay for his food and give her a small wave as he left. 

T.J. came back a little later and sat down for his, now cold, burger and fries.

“Thel…” she said. “You need to tell me what happened.”

“I’m not in the mood to talk about me and Cyrus...I don’t like talking about it.”

“Fine, then don’t talk about Cyrus yet,” she said. “But I just saw Jonah.”

He winced slightly. “Yeah...Jonah...he got a little fucked up.”

“What happened to him? What else changed?” 

T.J. pursed his lips, and looked down. “We should talk about that at home…”

“Why?” She asked, her heart stopping.

“Because the only thing that’s the same in Shadyside...is it’s name.”

* * *

Amber sat on her bed with T.J. sitting across from her, looking down. “Nothing’s the same?”

“No…”

“Will you ever tell me about what happened with Cyrus? It sounds kind of impossible right now, but he’s such a sweet guy, it feels impossible hating him, but I want to at least know why I should hate him.”

“Maybe, eventually I’ll tell you. I just can’t believe he did what he did…”

“What about everyone else? Jonah? He looked like he was dead inside.”

“I think he is…” he sighed. “Jonah’s mom got arrested for some shit thing she did in the eighties.”

“What? She’s in jail?” 

“Prison now. Fifty years, possibility with time off for good behavior. We were all there at the sentencing. It was the start of the end really.”

“Oh my god...he’s already been through so much with the money problems and crashing on couches…” 

“Yeah. He and his dad have some one bedroom bachelor pad, but…he said the anxiety meds weren’t enough, so he started selling them, along with his adderall...bought other shit...god we lost count of what...he went down the rabbit hole…” he started choking up a little. “Me, Buffy, and Marty...we’ve each found him passed out...Walker even found him almost to the point of ODing once.”

“He’s on drugs?”

“In theory, he’s clean now,” he said. “He’s been in and out of rehab four times in the past year.”

“Four?! Jonah was always, like, the human embodiment of sunshine!”

“Something got to him at his mom’s arrest. Well, I think that one was the final straw. You remember when he had money problems...like with us…”

“He would have gone without eating if I didn’t comp his meals for him at The Spoon,” she said. “He’s gone through too much.”

“Yeah, and whenever he was in rehab...we would fight a lot. And...fucking Kira…” 

“What the hell did that bitch do?”

He sighed. “First she outed me and Cyrus.”

“That’s horrible!”

“....and Marty.”

“Marty’s gay?”

“Trans. Normally I wouldn’t have said it, but she literally published it in the school papers, which the local papers thought would make a great controversy headline so they published that...so all of Midwest knows about three random high schoolers being LGBT,” he said bitterly. “And...that caused a fight…”

“T.J., please tell me you didn’t fight Kira.”

“I didn’t fight Kira.”

“Good.”

“Buffy did.”

“Oh god damn it.”

“It gets worse.”

“How?”

“Even though literally all of us agree that Kira’s the one at fault...Kira’s dad is a state senator.”

“T.J..?” 

“Buffy’s in Juvie. She only gets out next month.”

Amber sat back against her headboard in awe. “She...she’s in juvie?”

“Her mom couldn’t afford a better lawyer, and Kira’s dad stacked the jury and picked the judge. She had to serve 10 months and video chat in classes.”

“I can’t believe that...how’s that going?”

“She’s best behavior there last I heard,” he said. “Her visiting day is in two days. I can take you there. 

“And everyone else?”

“Well...it certainly didn’t help with Jonah, and Kira, being the fucking opportunist she is, took over the girl’s basketball team as captain, and...honestly her visiting days are one of the few times all of us can be in a room together. Well...almost all of us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Andi fucking Mack. She disappeared off the face of the Earth several months back. Bed and Bowie don’t want to share what happened and they’re all acting like everything’s normal, but they won’t fucking talk to us.”

“Andi’s gone?”

“Has been, and honestly, we don’t think she’s coming back at this point.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the dark and depressing themes, but please leave a comment telling me what you think, and also I’m thinking of starting commissions to help pay for my law books since I’m excited to announce that exactly a week from today, I’ll be headed to Law School! I’m a naturalized American and the first person in my family to go above a Bachelor’s degree since my mom was the first to get a degree in Brazil. You can also PM me on my tumblrs “Trinity-of-Defendingdorks” and “abg-blah”.


	3. Chapter 3 - Piecing it Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Transphobia, Deadnaming, homophobia

Amber sat at a bench in the park close to her house, watching the kids play around and the parents fussing over them, watching the (all heterosexual) couples canoodling and the singles glowering, and she wondered how everything could look exactly the same while it was all so different. 

T.J. moped around the house a lot more. It was like when he was still a bully sometimes, before he met Cyrus, when kids at the middle school feared him rather than got friendly with him. He lost his smile, the easy one he had whenever he was around Cyrus. The one that he wished more people could have seen if they weren’t in the closet. 

Cyrus had done something, according to T.J. All he told her was that Cyrus did something irredeemable, irreparable, and that he didn’t see a way he could forgive him. And then he refused to tell Amber what happened. She wanted to at least know why she should hate Cyrus. 

After people-watching for a while, she went to The Spoon to get something to eat. Her stomach was growling and she was debating whether or not she should get baby taters. Baby taters were a trademark of The Good Hair Crew. They would always order several baskets whenever they were there, Cyrus would use “Tater Theater” to re-enact moments, they bonded over those taters. She ended up ordering regular French fries, like T.J. did the first time he came back in here with her. 

She heard the little bell ring and looked at the door, seeing another familiar face. 

* * *

_ Marty came over to Amber and handed her a coke. “Can’t believe you’re leaving. It feels like I just got to know you.” _

_ “Most of us never really got to know you, other than being the boy that had an on-off thing with Buffy,” she said. Marty seemed to light up slightly at the word boy, but she blew it off at the time.  _

_ “Buffy is an interesting girl, keeps someone like me wanting more. And she’s a good friend, a good competitor, and now, I’m learning, a really good girlfriend.” _

_ “That’s great for you. I know Buffy pretty well. She’s fierce though...can you handle that?” _

_ “Please,” he chuckled. “I can handle anything. Buffy’s finally a good challenge for me.” _

_ “Well, hopefully you don’t see everything with your girlfriend as a challenge.” _

_ “That’s the fun part for us. As long as we enjoy the moments in between.” _

* * *

“Amber?” Marty waved at her, and she waved back. He came over and sat across from her. “Can’t believe it’s been a year since we’ve seen each other.”

“I know...it feels like ten,” she said. “T.J. told me everything that happened. Like...the paper…”

“Yeah…” his face fell a little. “No point in keeping that secret now, I guess…”

“Hey!” The guy at the counter called over. “You know the rule, dyke!”

“My girlfriend’s in Juvie, jerk!” He shouted back. “I’m catching up with a platonic friend while you make my burgers to go!”

The guy at the counter grumbled again and went back to wiping down the counter. 

“Dyke?” Amber was starting to get angry. “What the hell was that? You’re not a girl.”

“Yeah...in Shadyside I am, no matter what I tell them,” he said. 

“That’s awful!” She said. 

“Yeah...I can deal with being misgendered and dead named. Honestly, Cyrus and T.J. probably get it worse most times.”

“Really?”

“Yeah...we’re the three queer kids in all of Shadyside. I mean...statistically, there’s probably more...but who’s open and out? Just us. I get deadnamed and whatnot, but me having a girlfriend isn’t as bad because even though they say it’s “morally wrong,” lesbians are seen as hot. Gay guys? That’s gross on top of sinful.”

“Wait...what do they deal with?” Amber asked. “And here, I’ll increase the number of queer kids in this small minded town.” She got up and shouted. “Hello Shadyside’s The Spoon!”

“What are you doing?!” Marty whispered in a panic. 

“My name is Amber Kippen! I’ll be here for the next four or five months before going to Paris! And I’m a lesbian!” 

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Marty whispered harshly while everyone started murmuring and taking pictures. 

“Okay!” The guy behind the counter came up. “Amber, only because I’m doing this as a favor because you worked here, but finish your food, pay up, and don’t come back unless you’re getting takeout, or you’re here with your parents or a boy.”

“Jason,” she said. “I am with a boy right now.”

“No, you’re with a confused lesbian who wants to feel special,” he said. He looked at Marty. “Your burgers will be done in five minutes Maria.”

Marty winced slightly. “I’m just going to go to the bathroom. He got up and headed to the men’s room until everyone started shouting and protesting. He put his hand on the door of the men’s and sighed, then left and went to the women’s instead.

Amber stared shocked. “I’m paying for Marty’s meal too,” she said. 

“You mean Maria.”

“I mean Marty,” she said. “That’s what HE wants to be called, so that’s what I’m calling HIM,” she said, finishing her food and getting her shake in a to-go cup. “And I’m going to wait for HIM. I don’t trust him leaving safely from this place.”

* * *

“T.J. you should have seen what happened there!” Amber said pacing her living room. 

“I have,” he mumbled, watching her. 

“They kept deadnaming him! Calling him a girl! A dyke!”

“Yup.”

“And when he got up, he had to use-“

“The women’s bathroom?” T.J. said. “Yeah..it’s like that all the time.”

“Why do you guys even go to The Spoon anymore then?! After all that!”

He sighed. “Because it’s the only place that lets us even order anymore,” he said. “Marty using the ladies’ room? Yeah, that happens even in school. Some teachers send a ‘student chaperone’ with him to make sure he uses the ladies’ room. Most restaurants maybe will give us a glass of tap water on the really hot days, most don’t even let us do that at all. The rules at The Spoon is that, for Cyrus and me, we have to either go in alone, with our parents, or have girls present. For Marty, it’s honestly safer for him not to go in there unless he’s just picking up takeout. We all just pick up takeout from there now. It’s easier. 

“And...it’s a good thing that the kiddie gym isn’t even open anymore because I wouldn’t even be allowed to work there. I can’t work with kids anymore. I’m not allowed to,” he said, trying not to cry there. “They think if any of us three work with kids, we’re going to corrupt them...turn them gay…”

Amber softened. “Thelly...you love kids…”

“Yeah I do,” he said. “And I’m not even allowed to babysit anymore. I work at a coffee shop now. Coffee is for adults, it’s the only job where I won’t do much damage since my job is to shut up and make drinks.”

She looked at him, and he was getting emotional. “Thelly…” 

He let a few tears slip and she immediately hugged him. “I’m so sorry…”

“And the worst part is...the adults at least treat us better than kids our age…” he said, hugging her back. 

She held him tightly. “I promise...no matter what, Thelonious...no matter what…I’ll find a way to get you out…I’ll find a way to fix this and make things better for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know this is intense. I’ve been calling this fic “My Version of Riverdale Featuring Andi Mack.” I can promise that there will be a happy ending for those who stick around...but it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I promise the payoff will be worth it though. Please comment, let me know what you think! I don’t get notified of my kudos and I would love to know how many people are actually reading this via comments. And if you need to cheer up after this, check out my Andi Mack series of oneshots! The sleepover one is quite popular, and I’m considering making it Chaptered instead of a oneshot. Let me know your thoughts!!!


	4. The Fallout

Amber rarely left the house the next few days, since she wasn’t really “allowed” to anymore now that she was out. She wasn’t exactly forbidden from leaving, but most places, now that she was out as a lesbian, didn’t want her going there. Even the ice cream shop said that they didn’t want her kind around to “sully the minds of good Christian children.” She decided to see if there were any closeted girls on Tinder, but she had to set the range for over a 60 mile radius to find a single hit, and that was a couple looking for a third. She groaned and closed out her phone, deciding that she needed to get out of the house. 

She went out and over to the coffee shop where T.J. worked, watching him make lattes on the machine. He didn’t look up from there, and Amber smiled, snapping a picture of him in his black apron. “He-Amber?” He frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“I was getting cabin fever,” she said. “Decided maybe a cup of coffee is exactly what I need.”

“Kippen!” The manager looked over. “You know the rules!” 

“That’s my sister! And a girl, I thought girls were fine!”

The manager rolled his eyes and went back to doing some paperwork. 

“Seriously?” Amber said. “I do not remember this town being so…”

“That’s because all of us were closeted...even to ourselves,” T.J. said. “Except for Marty since he was passing. But still.”

“Can’t believe Kira did all this.”

“She was jealous I wouldn’t go out with her,” he mumbled. “Look, I’m not allowed on registers. The most I can really do is call out names and answer questions directly asked to me. I’m just supposed to be a coffee drone.”

“Okay, any perks here?”

“They actually hired me because it’s a franchised place that refuses discrimination,” he said. “And I need as much money as I can to leave this place. I’m also just glad that Dr. Metcalf is an actual decent person and since he’s the principal of Grant now, he didn’t let them remove me from the team, and even had them keep me as team captain. That way I can get a scholarship.”

“He managed that in this town?”

“Yup. Smart dude,” he said. “Said that the only way I’d get out is if I have a scholarship somewhere out of state, and my scholarship will come with basketball. Of course the new cheer that the cheerleaders do at practice is “Get the homo out!” Eh, I can handle it though.”

“Oh my god, I hate this town.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to be here most of the year….” T.J. lamented. “You seriously gotta order something if you want to keep talking to me.”

She rolled her eyes and ordered a vanilla latte, then went back to where T.J. was, about to start talking again when the door opened and the manager started shouting. 

“No! You know the rules! Get out!” 

“Benji shut up!” T.J. shouted to him. “We broke up!” 

Amber looked back and saw that it was Cyrus that came in. “I just want a simple coffee, then I’ll leave.”

The manager rung him up himself and gave him the coffee, and Amber looked at T.J., who sighed. “You can go,” he told her. “I know you guys are friends too, and you deserve to talk to him.”

She nodded and said she’d see him at home before rushing out after Cyrus.

* * *

She found him later, sipping his coffee in the park just at the edge of city limits. She came up to him and towered over him. “Mind if I sit?”

He looked up and smiled, scooting over on the curb and gave her room, which she took to sit down.

“You want to know what happened,” he said as a fact. 

“What?”

“You want to know what happened between me and T.J., what made me the official worst person on the planet.”

“Well...the last time I saw you...you were both hanging onto each other tightly and not wanting to let go,” she said. “Is it too much to want to know what happened between you and my baby brother?”

He sighed. “Okay...The biggest reason..the reason he cannot see past...is that I’m the reason the Kiddie gym closed.” 

Amber stared at him in disbelief. “No way...Cyrus! How could you!”

“There was a really really good reason!” He swore. “The best reason!”

“What was that reason?” 

Cyrus hesitated. She started getting up when he spoke up. “It was a money laundering scheme.” She stopped and immediately sat back down, looking at him. “I kept noticing inconsistencies when I was interning for the city council. This was before we were all publicly outed by Kira, by the way. Their numbers were high...but...T.J. said business was slowing. He said not that many new kids were joining the gym...and some of the kids were coming out pretty badly bruised on Teej’s days off…” He sighed. “It wasn’t a good place.”

“Did you tell T.J.? 

“I tried,” he said. “But..he wouldn’t listen...he loved those kids too much. He said for most of them, that was their only option for hanging out after school while their parents worked. He just wanted to be there for them, no matter the cost.”

“My brother and his bleeding heart,” she sighed. 

“Well, the gym was shut down, the kids...figuring it out…one of the other gym teachers, the one that wasn’t abusing the kids, and him, they wanted to start their own little after school program at the park, for free. You know? But then we were outed, and T.J. wasn’t allowed to do that anymore.” 

“That’s bullshit…”

“It is,” he said. “But did you know it's actually state law that gay people can’t work with children?”

“That’s even worse!”

“Yup, but it’s the law. We can’t-“

“Corrupt their good Christian minds?” 

“I was going to say pure, but yeah…”

Amber sighed and put her arm around him. “We’re gettin out of this bullshit Cy...and I’ll talk to T.J.”

“Save it,” he said. “T.J. just wants someone to blame for not being around kids…and he blames Kira for everything else.”

“Kira ruined your lives! And Buffy?!”

“Buffy’s getting out next week,” Cyrus said. “We’re already planning a welcome home. But you should see her before then.”

“I think I will…”

“You’re on her list, don’t worry. She added all of us on the list.”

“Visitation open today?”

“Yup. Until 7 in the evening.”

Amber looked at the clock, 11:30a.m. “I’ll go now...sorry for leaving you alone.”

“It’s okay...I’ve gotten used to it.” 

Amber looked back at him sadly. “Get unused to it really quickly,” she said. “I’ll be back for you, I promise.”

* * *

_ “Well, if it isn’t our reformed little scorpion,” Buffy said, giving Amber a side hug.  _

_ “Don’t worry, my stinger is out and now I’m as cuddly as a teddy bear,” Amber said. “But I can be as fierce as a Mama Bear if I have to be.” _

_ “Just the way we like you,” Buffy teased. “So, Paris...excited?” _

_ “Honestly, I’m scared. It’ll be hard to get in contact with you guys, and you’re all the first real friends I made. I don’t want to lose you guys.” _

_ “Don’t worry Amber. We might change a little, and we might grow a little older, but we’re going to be here for you. You may have been the worst in the past, but now, you’re an amazing friend, and you just keep getting better. _

* * *

Amber made her way into the juvenile hall, going through all the security and signing in. She was then taken to a private room with a table and a chair, and told that an officer was waiting outside the door and that there was another watching everything via video feed, and they wouldn’t interfere unless violence occurred. 

She sat in the chair, nervously playing with her thumbs until the door opened and she could see through the half-open door, a guard taking out keys and undoing the cuffs on her wrists before letting her into the room and closing the door. Buffy locked eyes with Amber and immediately rushed her in a hug, which Amber stood up to receive with tears in her eyes. 

“What the fuck is happening around here?” Amber said softly in her ear, hugging her tightly. Buffy was shaking a little, crying slightly before she pulled away, wiping her eyes. 

“Hey scorpion, what are you doing back from Paris?” 

“I came to see my friends, except what the hell happened,” she said. “Cyrus and T.J. broke up, those two and Marty are experiencing horrific homophobia to ridiculous proportions, Jonah...well...Jonah…”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Andi is nowhere to be seen, and you...you’re probably the sane, centered, and logical one 90% of the time and you're in here! You shouldn’t be in here!”

“I know. I was supposed to be here another four months, but I’m getting an early release for good behavior. Turns out I’m the model prisoner here.”

“Of course you are, even in juvie, you have to be the best of everyone,” she joked lightly, enough to make Buffy smile a little. “When did Andi leave?”

“About six months ago? At least that’s how long it’s been since I’ve seen her. I collect call her every once in a while though.”

“You do?”

“Yeah...she said that some things happened at SAVA and she’s taking a mental leave of absence. She’s on vacation in Europe and China with Cece this whole time.”

“So that’s the story? Nobody else knows. Bex and Bowie barely answer any questions and avoid talking to them sometimes.”

“Yeah, she said that things in Shadyside keep getting worse so she doesn’t really talk to them unless she really has to.” 

“Guess she hasn’t had to in a while,” Amber said. “I’m really worried about things around here.”

“Well...what other option is there?”

“Honestly, part of me is tempted to just take you all to Paris with me. I’ve got basically my own apartment there for my second semester, and...I dunno, figure it out from there.”

“Paris sounds like too much of a dream, an impossible fantasy for me right now,” Buffy said. “Especially from here.”

“Just...hang tight. I’ll literally drive you home when you get out,” she said. 

“Thanks Amber...I just...I can’t wait to get out of here. The people in here suck. They keep trying to bring me in fights. Do you know how hard it is *not* to fight back?” She said. “I literally stand there with my hands behind my back, taking the beatings just so the guards see that under no circumstance I could be blamed for the fight.” 

Amber took her hand. “So...what happens after?” 

“I’m going to fight for my spot on the basketball team...I know Kira became captain when I came here...I’m going to be a model parolee...and my mom was able to pull some favors with some of the people she went to boot camp with who went to law school after their tours, she said that we’re going to fight to remove my time here and my conviction from the record and get it expunged completely.”

“Whatever I can do to help, even if it’s just bringing you guys coffee while you’re working, let me know.”

“Thanks Amber, really,” she smiled, then she laughed a little. 

“What is it?”

“Well, if you told me three years ago what our situation is...that you’d be helping me clear my criminal record...I would have made the school drug test you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading! If you were following my other story, I’d like to thank you for helping me see it through. And if you have not seen my other story, go check it out! If this is the first time you’re reading this one because you read Hand Drawn Sleeves...well expect the exact opposite here folks. It’s going to be angst angst angst but I promise there will be a rainbow at the end.   
Which is why I’m also going to work on making the sleepover oneshot into a series now, so that should satisfy the need for fluffy happy things, right? I’m also going to make Hogwarts! I swear!!!!


	5. The Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: NSFW implications, drug implications. 
> 
> Reminder, everyone in this story is 16-17 years old.

**AMBER POV**

As promised, Amber stood outside the gates to juvenile hall with her car ready. Her mom was busy at work an hour away and couldn’t get it off, so Amber worked it out with her to pick Buffy up from juvie and take her to the party that some girls from her former basketball team were throwing, then take her back to the Driscoll house for a family welcome home. 

She excitedly watched the gates open and Buffy, wearing a pair of jeans and an ugly hoodie, be let out. She screamed happily and rushed her into a hug. Buffy laughed and hugged her back. “Middle school me would have thought I’d *never* be happy if saw your face,” Buffy joked. 

“Likewise, but Paris Fashion School me absolutely loves seeing you, as long as it's not in there!” She said. 

“I have no plans about going back in there,” Buffy said, getting into Amber’s car. 

“So...now what here?”

“I have meetings with my parole officer three times a week at 4:30, which is enough time to get out of school and go across town for him…”

“They’re purposely making it hard...aren’t they?”

“Oh absolutely, they don’t even try to hide it.”

“I’m sorry Buffy…”

“Honestly, I knew Kira was a shitty person, but to go far enough to get me thrown in juvie? Trying to ruin my life? I can’t believe anyone would be that mean, you know?”

“Even I wouldn’t have done that, and i was a shitty person back in the day.”

Buffy touched Amber’s shoulder. “But you were secretly a good person. Kira? I think the last bit of good in her shriveled up and died years ago.”

“Well, now it’s not about Kira, it’s about you,” she said, pulling up to Taylor’s house. She was the point guard on the team and she was the one throwing the party. 

“Welcome back!!”

* * *

The party was getting nice and intense not even a half and hour later. There was good music, the lights were set up, and everyone was coming over to congratulate Buffy. Marty had his arm around her all night so far, and even Cyrus and T.J. has made it Into the same house, even if they were avoiding each other like the plague. 

People were starting to get looser while they danced, and Buffy had thought it was because they were nervous about offending her at first. Turns out she was only half right. 

“Hey,” Cyrus said, finishing his drink. “I can’t believe you’d be okay with this sort of party.”

“What sort of party?”

“You know, like any other high school party? With booze?”

Buffy’s eyes widened. “There’s alcohol here?! I can’t be around alcohol because of my parole!” She looked around and saw Kira smirking, taking a long sip from her cup. 

Marty and Amber immediately went into overdrive. “Okay, we’re getting you out of here now,” Marty said. “Party can keep happening, but Buffy’s leaving!” He shouted over the music. Everyone cheered and he and Amber got Amber out and Into the car, driving her back home to her mom. 

* * *

**BOWIE POV**

-Are you sure it’s all okay?-

-it’s fine dad. Cece is taking care of me. Two more weeks I’ll be home.-

Bowie sighed at his phone before getting into his car, starting to drive home. His dad instincts were in overdrive and he just wanted his baby girl home. He drove home, the route feeling automatic, but he heard something off. 

“You ruined my life!”

“I was trying to not ruin it!” The words were slurred but the voices were familiar. He stopped the car and looked over, seeing Cyrus and T.J., both drunk and arguing on the street. His daughter was in China and he went into full dad mode. 

“Hey! Cyrus! T.J.!” Both boys looked over at him. “Are you two drunk?!” They both started slurring our excuses and he got a little angry. “No, okay, I’m not hearing this. You’re both a lot smarter than this to know that! Get in!”

“We can jus…” Cyrus started 

“You’re not walking home like that! It’s dangerous. Honestly, it’s not safe going home like this the way you are. I know your parents. Get in the car now, I’m taking you guys back to my house, and I’m calling your parents on the way.”

“But-“ T.J. started. 

“The only buts should be yours in my car. Now!” 

Both boys sheepishly shuffled into the car and got in the backseat.

“Who feels like puking?” Bowie asked. Neither moved. “Open the windows if that changes,” he said, driving them to his house. 

The drive was quiet, both of them sitting far away from each other. Once they got to the Mack house, he led them out. To their credit, neither looked like they were about to get sick. “We only have one bedroom to spare so whatever you need to work out, do it before midnight. Bex and I want to sleep,” he said, looking at his wife’s very confused face. “So yeah, you both know the way to Andi’s room.” 

They both nodded sheepishly and went up to her old room. Bowie sighed. 

“Those boys…?”

“Drunk, and better here where they face no judgement and know they should be safe.”

“And their parents?”

“Calling them now,” he said pulling out his phone. “But I’m not mentioning the drunk. I’m going to say that they wanted to have a group sleepover in a neutral location.”

“Lying to their parents? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I think this is the first time those two talked since they closed the gym,” he said. “He hey need to be able to work it out without worrying about what’s going to happen once they’re home.”

“And if they…?”

“They’re drunk enough that we could make sure it’s safe without them feeling ashamed,” he said. “You and I should know more than anyone you can’t stop it, just advise them in making sure it’s all safe.” 

“You’re right...though they pose different risks…” 

“No less life altering,” he said. 

“But you’re right, it’s better they be safe than “moral”, whatever that’s supposed to mean in this backwards ass town.”

* * *

**T.J. POV**

T.J. sulked around the room, refusing to make eye contact with the other person in the room. 

“You’ve got to talk to me eventually,” Cyrus said, still slurring “We’re out here all damn night.”

“You ruined my life,” he said. “You ended the last job I would have with kids in this town.”

“I was trying to save your damn life!” He shouted back. 

“How was shutting down a gym for kids saving my life!”

“They were laundering money!” Cyrus finally shouted. “And some of the other coaches were hitting the kids!” 

T.J.’s face fell. “What?”

“They were going to investigate you once it came out. If I got it shut down early, you got off because it would’ve been obvious that you were innocent!”

“They...it…”

“They were taking more money than they had kids! And I just sat there with you hating me this whole damn time when I actually loved you too much to see you get hurt in the long run! I swallowed all that hatred you threw my way! Each and every day and all you-“ he was cut off by T.J. kissing him suddenly, passionately, holding Cyrus close by the collar of his shirt. Then he pulled away. 

“You loved me?” He asked softly. 

“Yeah...and I never stopped...even when you hated me…”

“I hated you because...I never...I hated that the person I loved could hurt me like that…”

“I never wanted you to get hurt...wait...you loved me too…”

“I’d be lying if I said I ever stopped…”

They started kissing again, holding onto each other tightly, and letting the fuzziness of the alcohol get into their heads. What Bowie didn’t realize when he picked up the boys is that they both only had two beers and they were not that drunk, only slightly slurring their speech and with lowered inhibitions. 

That meant that hands quickly found themselves under each other’ s shirts, and eventually that meant that those clothes were quickly pulled off and they fell back on the bed, with Cyrus looking up at T.J.

T.J. hesitated and looked down at Cyrus, looking him in the eyes. “Are we…?”

“Only if you want to…” he said, then swallowed. “I want to…”

“Me too…” he leaned back down and kissed him again, this time, a whole new meaning was put into it.

* * *

T.J. woke up the next morning with a minor headache and his arms wrapped around Cyrus and their legs tangled up with each other. He looked over to see sunlight streaming in through the windows and pressed himself tighter into Cyrus’s back, pressing his face into his neck. 

“I see you’re awake,” Cyrus hummed. 

“Yeah,” he said, holding him tighter. “I’m sorry I was an ass to you this whole year...I hated feeling like my old middle school self...my pre-Cyrus middle school self.” 

“You weren’t that bad,” Cyrus turned around and looked at T.J. putting his hand on his cheek. “You thought I did something to hurt you, you had the right to feel angry.”

“You had the right to be listened to,” T.J. said. “I shouldn’t have assumed all that…”

“It’s over now though...right?” Cyrus said. “Because I’d like it to be over...and to at least have a good reason to not be allowed to be in the same public location as you…”

T.J. smiled and kissed him. “Only if you’re willing to take this idiot back.” 

Cyrus smiled and nodded. He was about to say yes verbally when the door opened and Buffy and Marty came in. 

“Whoa! Naked boys!” Buffy said, both of them turning away. Both of the boys blushed furiously and adjusted the blankets around them to make sure everything was covered. 

“What the hell Driscoll?!” T.J. shouted. “You should knock at the very least!”

“Sorry guys, but this was urgent,” Marty said, still facing the wall. 

“What could be so urgent?” Cyrus asked, keeping the blanket around him and searching for his clothes from the previous night as T.J. tried to do the same. 

“It’s Jonah...Amber found him and had to take him to the E.R.,” Buffy said, and both of their blood ran cold. 

“Why is he in the E.R.?” T.J. asked slowly. 

“Because...he was seizing...and she found stuff in his bag...he relapsed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, sorry (not sorry) about all the cliffhangers, but I’m so dedicated to this story I literally wrote this on my phone while taking a spinning class. All the dirty looks were worth it!
> 
> If you read this, please comment just like...anything! That’s the only way I get notified if people like my stories. For some reason, Kudos don’t show up in my email notifications like they do with some of my other stories. And check out my other stories too! More of my writing coming soon!


	6. The Rehabilitation

Amber sat in the waiting room, her leg shaking. She found Jonah passed out and twitching this morning when she went out to pick up breakfast at the local bakery and try to find her brother. He was in the alleyways in between shops, clearly having fallen over where he injected. The doctors came out a bit ago and said that they were able to get the drugs out of his system and that he had a minor bruise on his head, but he was otherwise fine.

“Do you know what drug it was yet?”

“Yes, it was a strain of heroin, I believe. But he’ll be fine in a bit. Is he an addict?”

“He wasn’t when I left Shadyside. Now apparently, he is,” she said. 

“And what’s your relation to him?”

“Ex-girlfriend and good friend….he’s going to be okay?” 

The doctor nodded and left again. Amber sat back down and took out her phone. T.J. was driving Marty, Buffy, and ...Cyrus? She smiled. Did they make up?

She stayed on the phone with Buffy until the four of them came through the door. They all rushed to her and hugged her. 

“What was it this time?” Cyrus asked. 

“Heroin, at least that’s what the doctor told me,” she said, then looked down to see Cyrus and T.J. holding hands. “Uh…I’m guessing you two made up?”

“Oh did they…” Buffy said with a smirk and Cyrus blushed and T.J. glared. 

“Oh?”

“Let’s just say I saw a lot, a lot, a lot more of the two of them than I  **ever ** wanted to see from them...in my life.”

“Gross! Jag!” 

T.J.’s eyes widened. “Amber you promised!”

“Jag?” Buffy and Marty looked intrigued. “Another hint at your real name? Considering that we already know Cyrus calls him Theo and Teddy, we already know his first name is Theodore,” Buffy said. 

“Nope. Not my name,” he said. 

“Sure….”

“No actually,” Cyrus said. “He’s telling the truth.”

“T.J. does not stand for Theodore,” Amber confirmed. 

“Are you kidding me? It’s still a mystery?”

“And it will be,” T.J. said. “Forever.”

“Well Jag means something,” she said determined. “I’ll figure it out.”

T.J. was about to say something else when a nurse came out. 

“Miss Kippen, are you sure you filled out Mr. Beck’s information correctly?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Why? Is there a problem?”

“For his family contact, we called his father and there’s no answer.”

“That’s expected,” Marty said. “His dad pretty much only has the apartment for Jonah to live in. If you need a parent, you have to call the Dirksen County Minimum Security Prison and tell the guards that you need Deborah Beck to collect call you guys about her son. Identify yourselves as a hospital.”

“I see, I’ll do that. For now, who here can act as an emergency contact? It has to be an adult.”

“Let’s put down the Mack’s,” T.J. said. “Bowie helped us last night, so I’m sure they can act as an emergency contact.” 

“I’ll text him,” Cyrus offered. “I’m sure he’ll accept.”

“Well,” the nurse said. “As soon as you have the adult emergency contact here, you can all go visit him. We’re still finalizing toxicology on him.”

* * *

Both Bowie and Bex rushed over to help Jonah, signing documents to assume full liability over Jonah. 

“Seriously,” Bex said, going over to the group. “I’m a teen mom and I’m doing a better job than Jonah’s dad.”

“You’re a good mom Bex,” Buffy said. “Your age doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah...hopefully that’s true,” she mumbled. “Catch me up on Jonah? Cocaine?”

“Heroin,” Amber said. “He was passed out.”

“Well, if he wasn’t seizing…” she sighed. “And he was such a straight-laced kid. What made him relapse?”

“The nurse said they couldn’t get a hold of his dad,” Cyrus. “Maybe he went on another bender.”

“How is that man not in rehab,” she mumbled. 

“Wait…” Amber looked at them all. “Jeremy is an alcoholic?”

“He’s officially the town drunk now,” T.J. said, “His mom going to prison fucked up literally everyone.”

“This is ridiculous. This is the Becks. They had too much shit happen to them,” Amber said. 

“You’re telling me,” Bex said. “Shadyside itself sucks, and brings its people down with it. I should have taken Andi away from here first chance. I shouldn’t raise another kid here…”

“Wait,” Buffy and Cyrus shared a look and then looked at Bex and down to her belly. 

“No! I’m not pregnant,” she said. “Bowie and I actually adopted, the baby is coming over in the next few weeks. Cece and Andi are bringing him here from China.”

“Oh my god! That’s wonderful! Congrats!” Buffy said. 

“Wait, Andi’s coming back?”

“Yeah,” Bex said reluctantly. “As soon as the adoption is finalized, they’ll be flying back with a new baby.”

Before anyone could say anything else, the nurse called them all over to go see Jonah.

* * *

There’s no sugarcoating it. Jonah looked like shit. His eyes were sunken in and he was skinny, hooked up to several machines. 

Bex sighed when she saw him. “Hey Frisbee, how did you get the drugs?”

“What are you talking about…?” He weakly tried to hide, only to crumble when she looked him down. “I sold my mom’s tennis bracelet.”

“Jonah you didn’t!” Amber sighed. “Your mom loved her tennis bracelet.”

“Yeah…”

“You promised you were going to get clean,” Bowie said. 

“Yeah, but my dad was piss drunk, shouting at me and...it’s just easier to escape.”

The Mack’s shared a look. “Do you want to get out of your house?”

Jonah shrugged. “My dad would get worse.”

“Well this isn’t about your dad, this is about you. If him being drunk compels you to use, you need to get out of the house. Your dad doesn’t want to get better, you do.”

“What are you guys even suggesting?”

Bowie sighed. “Good thing we’re moving into Cece’s house. And she’s taking our place.” Bex nodded. 

“Yeah...Jonah, do you want to live with us until you graduate?” Bex asked. 

“Um….”

* * *

It really shouldn’t have been a question, because Bowie tracked down Jonah’s dad and all but forced him to sign over guardianship rights to the Mack’s. He would still be allowed to visit and have a relationship with his son, so long as he was sober and they were supervised. 

All the members of the Good Hair Crew (yes Cyrus actually had shirts made) were there to help being his stuff over and move him into Cece’s spare bedroom, since one room was Andi’s and the other was for the incoming baby, already decorated and furnished. They quickly moved everything in and Jonah had a babysitter at all times, be it Bex, Bowie, or a member of the crew. He never left anyone’s sight.

Once most things were moved in and Jonah and Amber were just arranging his Knick knacks, Bowie called over to Cyrus and T.J., taking them into Andi’s empty bedroom. “So…” he said. “This is about to get very awkward.”

“Oh no...this is about us after the party...isn’t it?” T.J. groaned, and Cyrus looked like he was already planning how deep the hole he wanted to hide in would be.

“Yup. I’m not mad about that, considering I’d kinda be a hypocrite given Andi, but we do need to have a talk about the risks…”

“Well neither of us can get pregnant, so no risk there,” Cyrus said. “Okay, I think we’re all caught up-“

“Nice try Cyrus,” he said. “Look, I might be one of the only people here qualified to give you this talk.”

“Wait...what do you mean?” T.J. said. “You’re not a sex ed instructor...not that the state would allow it…” 

“No, but I’ve been with men too so I had to learn about those risks.”

“Wait...hold up,” Cyrus held up his hand. “You? I thought…”

“You think that the only queer people in all of Shadyside were in your friend group?” He asked with a smile. “You four aren’t even the only queer people in this house. Neither me nor Bex is straight.”

“You’re not?”

“Nope. Bex is Bi, and I’m Pan. But we married each other because we felt for each other. Both of us dated multiple genders.”

“Wow…” Cyrus said. “I just assumed...and I never will assume again.”

“That’s right. Now...about that talk…”


	7. The New Kid

**JONAH POV**

Jonah hated being woken up. He also hated going through opioid withdrawal. Unfortunately, he had two jocks at the foot of his bed at 7:30 shaking him awake and calling out his name. He peeked out from under his blankets at Buffy and T.J., wearing gym clothes, and waking him up.

“I hate both of you,” he groaned. 

“Yeah, But you hate rehab more because it keeps you away from your friends,” Buffy said.

“I have no friends right now. This pillow is my friend.”

“Get up and get dressed Space Otter,” T.J. said. “We’re going on a run.”

Jonah groaned.

“I’m not taking any chances,” Buffy said. “Picked out your clothes, and T.J. has several water bottles filled with ice water that he’s not afraid to dump on you to get you up.”

Jonah groaned. “Fine, I’ll get up, I’ll get up. I still hate you both.”

“We love you too,” T.J. said. 

“Why can’t you guys be like normal teenager who want to hang out with your boyfriends.”

“Oh we do, but this is more important. Clothes on, five minutes. We have breakfast ready.”

* * *

They weren’t kidding. They had bagels with peanut butter and a small fruit salad for Jonah ready and made him eat and warm up before they started jogging around the neighborhood. 

“You know, insomnia is one of my withdrawal symptoms,” Jonah said. “Why are we out so early?”

“We’re replacing your bad habits, like getting high, with good ones, like Runner’s high,” Buffy said. 

“But why this early?”

“Early morning runs are the best way to start a healthy day and get the blood flowing,” she said. 

“And most people that would heckle us are asleep right now,” T.J. supplied. 

“Besides, you don’t know how lucky you are to be able to run here,” Buffy said. “Back in Juvie, we had only an hour of outdoor time, and that included sports. I barely got to run during my time there.”

The other two got quiet. “You’re such a good person and good student,” Jonah said. “I forget you were in there...you’re not a screw up like me.”

“You’re not a screw up,” T.J. said. “Your brain is wired differently, but it’s all about working around it. Addiction isn’t screwing up, it’s a disease.”

He nodded. “So just...run?”

“Running gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy,” Buffy said. 

“And Happy people don’t murder their husbands, they just don’t,” quipped T.J.

“Fine...you have a point,” Jonah said. “Legally blonde here sold me.”

Buffy rolled her eyes and stopped them at the park. “Alright, pushups and jumpers. Let’s go.” 

This time, even T.J. groaned a little. 

* * *

**AMBER POV**

Back at the Mack house, Amber was helping Bex and Bowie with the final preparations. Cyrus and Marty were out helping with some last minute groceries and errands when a taxi pulled up to the house. Bex and Bowie popped up happily and looked at each other. “They’re here!” 

Amber watched the two happily bound over to the door and throw it open, hugging Andi as tightly as they could. They all had smiles on their faces but Andi had something else, she was colder...more distant, and Amber had a second of panic but decided to shove that down. 

“Amber?”

“Andi!” She went over and hugged her. “Man I missed you so much! You missed almost as much as I did, I swear!” 

She laughed lightly and looked at her friend. “Well, being over in Europe and China sure does help in missing out.

“Wait! That’s him! That’s him!” Bex jumped up and down seeing the baby carrier in Cece’s arms. 

“Oh my god, is that your new baby brother?” Amber asked excited. 

“Oh...uh...yeah...that’s my...uh...my baby brother,” she said. She sounded a little dazed, but Amber chalked it up to heavy jet lag. “His name is Phoenix...Phoenix Mack.”

Amber smiled and went over to see the baby. He was very light skinned with big brown eyes and a little tuft of hair at the top. It was clear Cece had already picked out the outfit he was wearing since it was all navy blue and matching. Bex took the carrier from her mom with a hug and then she and Bowie cooed over their new adopted son. 

Marty and Cyrus were next to come in and Cyrus immediately rushed to Andi, hugging her in the biggest hug he could, 

“I missed you so much! I went through a breakup, a public outing, and a make-up and I wasn’t able to see you there!”

“I’m sorry Cyrus,” she said. “I wish I could have been there. I was just...away from it all I guess.”

“It’s okay, but you can leave us until it’s back to school time and you’re all fancy being an amazing artist and whatnot.”

Andi’s smile wavered for half a second but she shrugged it off. “Well, you never know, maybe I’ll be hanging around you guys a lot more than I have been for a while.”

“Hopefully, and we’ll get you that date with whatever your preferred gender because Bowie gave me a wake up call a while back that anyone could be queer even despite our assumptions…”

“You’re just oblivious,” Bowie said. “We’re pretty open about it.”

“Anywho...we could have a triple date! Maybe even a quadruple or quintuple date!”

“I’m pretty sure at that point it becomes a group hang,” Andi said with a little laugh. “Does this mean Buffy is officially out?”

“Yup! As of two weeks!” Cyrus said. “She’s a free...albeit, paroled, woman.”

“And...Kira?” Andi asked cautiously. 

“Oh get this,” Marty said, rejoining the group after greeting and hugging Andi. “Kira’s the captain while Buffy was in juvie. Now she’s so afraid of losing it, rumor has it that she’ll try anything to get Buffy thrown back in. On her first day back here, Buffy’s former teammates had a “Congrats you’re free” party, and Kira was the one who called to have alcohol delivered.”

“Yeah! Those kegs could have violated her parole,” Cyrus said. “Which is super strict, by the way!”

“She has an eleven p.m. curfew, she has to take drug tests and breathalyzer tests every single time she goes in for her parole, and they’re even strict on stuff that they should have no control over,” Marty said. “Did you know she’s not even allowed to have sex?”

“The torture,” Cyrus playfully and sarcastically replied. 

“Oh shut up,” Marty playfully shoved Cyrus. “Like you can talk about the virtues of celibacy.”

“Cyrus! No way!” Andi laughed. 

“Yeah...let’s just say that it’s a good thing that you’re sleeping in your bed in this house and both the other one…” Marty wiggled his eyebrows. 

“Marty! Perv!” Cyrus pushed him. 

“Marty?! You mean Cyrus!” Andi threw a pillow at him. “You’re buying me new sheets, and pillows and a new mattress!”

“Seriously?!” 

“And you can keep my old one! Or burn it in fire!”


	8. Displaced

**AMBER POV**

Amber smiled as she left the Mack house again. She was hanging out with Andi and Jonah, watching Disney movies on Netflix, when she passed by Marty’s house...and the disaster that happened outside. He was pounding on the door and screaming something in Portuguese through his tears. On his lawn was a bunch of clothes, both male and female presenting, and a bunch of binders were stuck in trees. On the front door was a note. Amber slowly walked up to the porch next to Marty and tried to read the door.

-A Maria pode voltar-

“It says Maria can come back,” he said through sniffs. “They never liked having a son...they keep calling me Maria and refuse to use Martin…” 

“Marty...I’m so sorry…” she said, giving him a hug. 

“They actually kicked me out..” he said, sounding broken. “They couldn’t handle me anymore…”

“It’s their loss,” she said. She tightened her lips and grabbed some of his things from the lawn and opened her backpack, stuffing as much as she could in it. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Grabbing as much as I can of your clothes, and none of the clothes your family wants you to wear because they want someone else, and taking you to my house,” she said. “We’ve got a spare air mattress and the game room can easily become a bedroom if we shift things around.” 

“Amber...you don’t have to do that.”

“Yes I do,” she said. “Because you’re my friend and you deserve to be somewhere that treats you with respect. And since my mom already has two gay kids she knows how to deal with, she’ll be more than happy adding another queer kid to her collection.”

Marty chuckled a little at that and looked at her gratefully. “Thank you...I don’t know how to repay you…”

“By being yourself,” she said. “And by promising to get out of here the first chance you get.”

* * *

As Marty was moving into the spare bedroom and setting up the air mattress, Amber texted Cyrus, remembering that one of his uncles was a lawyer about forcing his parents, the Sousa’s, to give up custody rights to their child. She was worried about how things would go when he got back to school, or even when he was out and about. Would the fact that his parents kicked him out make him more or less bullied?

She pulled out her laptop to start to do some research when she got a text from Andi.

-Can we meet up?-

Amber frowned at her phone but then replied. -Where are we going?-

-Andi Shack.-

Amber got up and grabbed her coat, headed back to the Mack house and to the backyard into the little shed that Andi had appropriated into a little crafting space. When Andi had left to go to SAVA, she took down everything and cleaned it out. Now, it was filled to the brim with hundreds, maybe even a thousand paper origami cranes strung up and cascading down. 

“Hey stranger...I like what you’ve done with the place.”

Andi smiled a little and invited her in to sit on the floor. “I thought they would help me right now…”

“So...what did you need these for this time around?” 

“I…” she took a deep breath. “A lot has happened...I just needed to find myself a little...where I came from.”

“Well, if anyone’s used to learning about a lot of new things happening, it’s me,” Amber said. 

“I just...I needed to talk to someone and Buffy and Cyrus would be too…”

“I get it. Childhood and all,” she said. “What is it?”

She took a deep breath and looked away. “So much...I don’t know if I can…”

“Say as much as you want, nothing you don’t.”

She looked down. “I got kicked out of SAVA.”

Amber was floored, last she heard, Andi loved SAVA, and for her to be expelled…

“What happened?”

“I...don’t want to get into it, but it’s a really sexist reason…”

“You need to fight it!”

“I can’t...not here in Shadyside. I mean, with the way they treat everyone else here, it’s impossible for anyone important to be on my side. I just...I didn’t want to go back to Grant. They’ll know I’m a failure.”

“You’re not a failure,” she said, taking her hand. “You’re Andi fucking Mack. You’re an insane talent who breaks down barriers left and right throughout Shadyside! You got rid of an oppressive middle school dress code, you figured out and broke the privilege experiment, you crushed stereotypes about yourself by making a collage of your face out of things you like! You’re absolutely incredible and amazing!” 

Andi looked at her, and then, out of nowhere...or at least nowhere from Amber’s perspective, Andi leaned in and kissed her.

Amber was shocked, and when Andi got scared that she freaked Amber out and started to pull away, amber touched her cheek and pulled her close again, kissing back. Amber always had a crush on Andi, even if she didn’t always realize it because she was denying her gayness. Andi put her arms around her as they kept kissing until they ran out of air and broke to catch their breath. “Is that another thing you wanted to talk about?” 

She nodded. “I think I might be gay, and I know I can talk to my parents about it that they won’t judge, but…”

“I get it, that’s why I came out to T.J. first,” she said.

“And I also….I like you…”

“I think I got that,” she joked lightly. “I like you too.”

Andi smiled her trademark crooked smile, the one Amber loved and hadn’t seen since she came back. “I think I got that too.”

“So...whatever you want next…” she said.

“Maybe a date? Taking it slow?”

Amber smiled. “I think that’s perfect.”

Andi got up and kissed her again, saying she was going to go to bed, leaving Andi Shack. Amber was about to get up when she noticed something that had fallen out of pocket. She picked it up and saw it was a hospital wristband. She saw “Mack, A” printed in letters she could understand. The other stuff was written in Chinese characters. She grabbed her phone and took a picture of the band, running it through her translator app. 

-Maternity.-


	9. Revelations

**Amber POV**

Amber stared at the little hospital band back in her room, and she ran the characters through more and more translation apps Each one said the same thing: Maternity Ward, Mother Ward, Baby Room. Each translation was slightly different but they had the same meaning. She even looked up how to write in Mandarin and saw that even that looked similar to the writing on the band. 

It didn’t take Amber long to put it together and the next day, just after lunch, she went to Andi Shack and texted Andi to meet her there, holding the band in her hand. Andi came in a bit later and smiled, and Amber instantly felt bad about what she was about to ask. 

“Missed me already?”

“I did...but I came back because after you left Andi Shack last night...something fell out of your pocket,” she pulled out the band, but before she even did, Andi looked scared, so she put her hand on Andi’s. “Just know...after everything...after really getting to know you...there’s nothing that would change how I think and feel about you…”

Andi looked like she was trying not to cry and Amber hugged her tightly. “Phoenix is yours, isn’t he?” 

Andi started crying again and nodded, pressing her face into Amber’s shoulder. Amber rubbed her back. “You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not comfortable telling me, and you can tell me to shut up and leave you alone at any second…”

“It’s why I left with Cece...after getting expelled from SAVA,” she said. “I didn’t want anyone to see me like that…” she sniffed, and pulled away, looking down as Amber took her hand again. Andi looked at their intertwined fingers and sighed.

“Can...Can I ask who?” She said. “I won’t judge, I promise, and if you don’t want to tell me you don’t ha-“

“I was at a party,” Andi started. “You know how boarding schools are...there’s a party, some kid with a fake ID was able to sneak in some kegs…”

“Did you get drunk?” Amber asked worried. 

“No, I didn’t…” Andi said slowly. “Some guy did...I barely knew him, we just had sculpting class…”

“Andi?”

“I said no…I kept saying no…he followed me to my room…he didn’t listen to me…” 

Amber looked shocked, then angry. “How dare he?! He...you...Andi...I’m so so sorry…” she hugged her again. Andi started crying again. “I hope he’s in juvie.”

“Academic probation…” she sniffed. “He’s back at school, and I got expelled for ‘breaking morality codes’ and getting pregnant. I couldn’t even get rid of it...and I tried...by the time I was somewhere it could have been plausible, it was too late…” she said. 

“Wait...SAVA expelled you for someone...that’s fucked up!”

“Welcome to Shadyside,” she said. “They said I was ‘asking for it’ by ‘putting myself in a promiscuous situation’ and that ‘I tempted him by giving him the wrong messages…’ he got off I got kicked out…” she said crying into Amber’s arms. 

“That’s fucked up,” she said. “You deserve to be there, not him…” She held Andi tightly. 

“Phoenix doesn’t even have anyone for father on the birth certificate. I told the hospital that I didn’t know…” 

“You know, you’re a lot stronger than me,” Amber said. “If that was me, I don’t think I could have lived in the same house as that baby…”

“Phoenix deserves a chance to be happy…” she said. “Now that he’s here...he deserves a chance…” 

“You’re an incredible person Andi Mack...and I’m glad I got lucky enough for someone like you to like me even a little.” 

Andi looked up at her and kissed her again. “I’m lucky I have someone so understanding.” Amber kissed her back, holding her gently. “Can...can you stay here the rest of the day? And the night?” 

“Yeah, I’m sure I can get my mom to let me,” she said. “I’ll be here for you.”

* * *

**Bowie POV**

Phoenix had been in the house for almost a month now and both Bowie and Bex were amazed. They were told non-stop that babies would cry throughout the night and keep them up, but Phoenix had been as quiet as a mouse throughout the night. 

“Should we be worried?” Bex asked. “I mean, he seems fine throughout the day, but he’s supposed to have a terrible time sleeping the entire night according to every parenting book and even my own mom.”

“I mean...he seems healthy, he cries a normal amount during the daylight? Maybe he’s like a bird? Sleeps in the dark?”

“Babies should not be like birds, Bowie!” 

“I don’t know, we kind of missed the baby step the first time around,” he said. Phoenix cried right then and Bowie reached in the fridge to grab his bottle and started warming it up while Bex picked him up and started rocking him gently. “Okay, that was a healthy cry...right?”

“Sounds like a healthy cry,” she said. “Maybe we’re being good parents by worrying too much?”

“Or we’re being bad parents?” He asked worried. “It’s easier taking care of kids when they can talk already.”

“Not all of us can wait thirteen years in to be parents...like we did the first time around,” Bex said. “But Phoenix needs us to try...and that we’re promising to do.”

“We’re trying,” he repeated, giving the baby his bottle and quieting him immediately. 

“We’re good parents.”

“We’re good grandparents,” he said quietly. 

“We’re good parents because Andi needs us to be good parents until she’s ready for us to be grandparents,” Bex said back quietly. “We’re good both. Though I’d appreciate not being reminded I’m a grandmother already...my sixteen and pregnant baby was pregnant at 16...I’m only 32...that’s when most people are having their first child turn into teenagers.”

“I’m only 33, believe me, I know the feeling.”

* * *

It was a few nights later that Bowie finally heard Phoenix cry in the middle of the night. He looked over and saw Bex was sleeping soundly and decided to take care of it himself and tell her in the morning. He got up and shut off the baby monitor so the crying stopped over there and headed to Phoenix’s room. 

He was about halfway there when the crying stopped. Bowie frowned and walked a little faster to the nursery, only to see Jonah putting Phoenix back down in the crib and soothingly stroke his tummy. Andi had gotten up too and stood by Bowie at the door frame, watching. Jonah didn’t seem to have noticed them yet.

“Hey there buddy, just a little gas this time, huh? Nothing to worry about.” He walked over to the acoustic guitar in the corner of the room and started strumming the opening chords to “I wanna hold your hand” by the Beatles, and sung it softly and slowly to him. 

Andi and Bowie stood at the door with their mouth open. Who knew Jonah was so good with kids? With their kid? 

It was only after Phoenix was asleep that Jonah noticed the two and quickly put his finger to his lips and set the guitar down and walked out, closing the door softly. Both were still staring at him amazed. “I’m...I’m not overstepping am I? Because I understand if you don’t want the junkie to be around-“ 

“Jonah,” Bowie put his hand on his shoulder. “That was amazing. I had no idea you were that good with kids.”

“I didn’t know that either,” he said softly. “I just...one of my withdrawal symptoms early on is insomnia and I know how much not sleeping sucks, so I wanted to help out. Since I’m right next door, it’s easy for me to just come in here and take care of him before he woke you guys.”

Andi was tearing up. He was so kind and sweet and part of her kinda wished she was straight and that things had worked out between her and Jonah because the way he was, even after everything that he went through, it might have been hidden by a dark cloud, but Jonah was still the human equivalent of sunshine.

“Jonah, that’s amazing. You should have been resting to get through your withdrawal, but you wanted to help out.”

“Well, you guys are helping me...even if I’m not enjoying the runs and the juice cleanse...which I’m not sure is helping...but I have discovered that I love orange, carrot, and ginger combined in a refreshing juice...but I miss cookies.”

“You deserve a thousand cookies...and for us to do a little more research about how to help you through this...I’m going to call the Goodmans again in the morning, and also ask them to refer me to a specialist on these things.” He ruffled Jonah’s hair affectionately. “Get some rest, okay?” He smiled and left, leaving Jonah and Andi standing in front of the nursery door. 

* * *

**Jonah POV**

“Hey...can I talk to you...in my room?” Andi asked him. 

“Uh...yeah but...aren’t your parents gonna…?

“It’s fine,” she said. “I just...I want to talk to you...there’s something I need to tell you.”

He nodded and followed her in there, where she closed the door. “What’s going on Andiman?”

She smiled, the nickname bringing back good memories of their middle school days. “You need to know the truth about Phoenix.”

“Is he okay? Am I doing things right? I’m not overfeeding him or underfeeding him am I?” He started entering panic mode until she touched his arm. He stopped and looked at her. “Sorry, I’m derailing.”

“You are, but it’s okay,” she said smiling. “Shows that I’m doing the right decision telling you this. But...at a party in SAVA, a guy got drunk and he refused to listen to my no’s…”

“What kind of no’s?” He got worried, and honestly a little dangerous for a second. 

“The kind of no you’re thinking. The kind of no that even though I kept saying, SAVA still blamed me and kicked me out for,” she sniffed. “The kind of no that had me leave Shadyside for six months so you wouldn’t see the physical changes in me...and the kind of no that brought Phoenix into this world.”

Jonah’s eyes widened. “Phoenix is yours?” He asked softly. “After...after all that?” 

“Yeah...yeah he is…” she sighed and hugged herself, sniffing a little and trying to hide the tears. He put his arms around her and hugged her. 

“You didn’t deserve this,” he said. 

“Yeah...well, I’m not ready to be a mom...I finally understand Bex…” she said. “But the local hospitals and stuff, as well as official documentarians are insisting I name a father...which is very homophobic and sexist...but that’s another story.”

“Are you going to name the father?” 

“No...that gives parental rights that I then have to fight in court to take away...I’m not going through that. I want to lie…”

“Andi?”

“Jonah? Can I name you as the father? That way, if anything ever happens to me, Bowie, and Bex...Phoenix gets taken care of by you?”

“Andi…” he sighed. “I’m a junkie...I’ve screwed up majorly...each of our friends have found me in a different position...I pretty much have a bed reserved for me at rehab…”

“And you put your needs aside to take care of my s-Phoenix,” she said. “I trust you to do what’s right Jonah.”

“Andi...if you really trust me like that..I’d be honored. But I have to know who else knows? So I don’t out you?”

“My parents, Cece, and Amber,” she said. “That’s it for now. Maybe later I’ll tell everyone else.”


	10. Comfort

**Amber POV**

Amber was walking down the street to go see Andi, planning on going on their date, or rather staying in for their date since she didn’t want to take Andi out anywhere assholes were around, which greatly reduced their options. Amber was also texting T.J., their mom was starting to get worried since he didn’t come home last night. 

Of course that worry disappeared the instant she passed by Cyrus’s father’s house, where she heard a loud rustle and saw her shirtless brother climb out of there with his T-shirt in his hand and go into the tree just outside and climb down quickly. He got to the ground and hid behind the tree, putting his shirt on as Cyrus rushed over to close the window and then “casually” lean against it. 

“Almost caught, little brother?” Amber asked, failing to hide the laugh from her voice. He groaned. 

“I was caught by you,” he said. “But I missed his dad and step-mom…”

“Well, our mom might kill you,” she said. “You didn’t tell us you were spending the night...and you definitely didn’t tell us you were spending the night at your boyfriends…in a state of undress?”

“You spent three nights at Andi’s,” he argued. 

“Mom thinks Andi is straight.”

“Good for her. Not my fault I’m dating the only other openly gay guy here,” he said. “Granted we’re only open because of Kira…”

“I can’t believe you used to be friends with her,” Amber said. 

“Neither can I. I should have listened to Buffy and Cyrus when I had the chance,” he said, walking with her. “So...what’s going on with you?”

“I’m going to hang out with Andi, maybe babysit Phoenix while we’re there.”

“Oh, how about I babysit Phoenix? He’s really cute and one of the few people here that isn’t homophobic.”

“None of the Macks are homophobic…”

“Exactly,” he said. “But the baby won’t give me “The Talk” again.”

* * *

Amber arrived at the Mack house to find Jonah playing with Phoenix, tickling him. Bex and Bowie were making sandwiches, expecting the full group to come by later, and Andi was up in her room. Amber watched Jonah play with Phoenix, mesmerized. He was good with the baby, really good, but eventually T.J. snapped her out of it by saying hi to Jonah with a bro-hug. 

Amber went upstairs and saw Andi making a bracelet. “Is that for me?” She teased, sitting on Andi’s bed. 

“Actually, yes,” she smiled and held it up. It had red leather and a metal clasp. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s perfect,” she said, taking Andi’s hand and pulling her close for a kiss. “So...I saw Jonah down there.”

“Yeah, turns out he’s really, really good with Phoenix,” Andi said. “We thought he wasn’t crying through the night, turns out he was, but since Jonah has insomnia, he’s been taking care of him, even singing him back to sleep.”

“Whoa...future dad Jonah?”

“Actually...I told him,” Andi said. 

“You told him Phoenix is yours?”

“Yeah...and I asked his permission to lie on the birth certificate and say that he’s Phoenix’s father.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because…” Andi sighed. “All these official people and whatever are insisting I name a father on the birth certificate and I don’t want to name his other biological gene giver.”

“Biological gene giver?”

“I’m not naming the boy who ruined my life as a father. Not even biological,” Andi said. “He has no rights. Ever.”

“Right.”

“I lied and had Jonah sign the birth certificate. That way, if anything ever happens to any of us, I trust Jonah to take care of him.”

“Should I be jealous?” Amber teased slightly.

“You dated him just like I did,” Andi said. “We both know there’s nothing to worry about.” They both laughed and Amber kissed him again, then Andi had a realization. “Oh my god...we Korrasami’d him!”

“We what?”

“You saw Legend of Korra, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, Mako and Asami dated, then Korra and Mako, only for Korrasami to be endgame!”

“Oh my god...Jonah is Mako! We did do that!” She laughed. 

“So...he also knows you know,” Andi said. “So you guys can talk about it...if you want to.”

“Well...you really trust him?”

“You don’t? Because of the drugs?”

“I’m a little worried because of the drugs...that’s allowed, right?”

“It’s allowed, but he’s trying to get clean...he wants to. Maybe...the idea of father hood helps? Because he shakes less when he’s holding Phoenix.”

* * *

**Jonah POV**

Amber and T.J. had stayed for dinner and shared pizzas with the Macks, but then they left to go to their own houses. Andi and Amber had really gotten close and Jonah could tell that the two made a good couple. Maybe he should date people in order to be their matchmakers instead. 

He played with Phoenix for a good while longer and even fed him a bottle before sending him to bed, playing Blackbird on the guitar to lull him to sleep. Bowie even joined him this time so that there were two guitars strumming along in melody and Phoenix was out by a light, though hopefully for a while. Phoenix was only waking up three times a night on average so even then it was starting to get better, and Jonah felt proud that the family trusted him enough with Andi’s secret as well as the care of the baby. 

But unfortunately, the rest of the night was torture for him. His jaw was clenched as his entire body felt like it was on fire, being stabbed a thousand times in a thousand different places. He tried to keep quiet, not to disturb, but little whimpers and moans of pain kept escaping. After what felt like three days, but was probably somewhere between a half hour and two hours, there was a soft knock on his door and he grunted out permission for the person to come in. 

Andi peeked her head in through the door, and saw Jonah in pain. “Are you okay? I can hear you whimpering in pain from my room.”

“Yeah just...another symptom for me,” he said. “I’m coming off opioids...so I was numbed down,” he got up slightly, taking a deep breath. “So now it’s like...I’m over stimulated. Like imagine how I feel during a panic attack...everything is dialed up to ten thousand, but it’s sights and sounds that overpower me making me feel like I’m in a rave even if there’s only a handful of people around me,” he said. “Now, it feels like since I’ve got numb while on opioids and heroin...not having it makes me feel like, since I’m not feeling nothing...I feel everything…”

Andi came in and sat at the edge of his bed. “But you’re fine during the day...and whenever you’re with the baby…”

“I guess it’s distracting,” he said. “I want to make sure people around me are more taken care of, not bothered by me. I know it’s not healthy, but...I dunno. I like taking care of people when I can.” He frowned. “Why are you up? It’s…” he checked the time. “Two in the morning.”

“PTSD flashback nightmares,” she said. “Of...the event…”

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I wish I knew how to help...if I could…”

Andi studied his face, then got up and lifted the covers, getting into the bed with him. 

“What are you doing, Andiman?” He frowned. She told him she was with Amber, not interested in him in anything other than a friend. 

“Being with someone helps me not dream,” she said. “I was left alone to cry immediately after, and being alone reminds me of that...especially at night. So I just want to be cuddled.” She wrapped her arms around him and he instantly laid down gently, letting her head fall on his chest as he put his arm around her. 

“But you said you didn’t want to date me…”

“I don’t,” she said. “I want my friend...my good friend, one of my best friends, who I’m trusting to take care of my baby as a father if I need him to, to cuddle me. I think more friends should cuddle. Buffy, Cyrus, and I used to do it all the time…we stopped as we grew up but we shouldn’t have.”

“Just...platonic cuddling?” He asked, stroking her shoulder gently. 

“Yeah...just to help me sleep…” and to help him too, but she needed him distracted. “Plus, the best thing about you when I dated you was cuddly movie nights.”

“Alright...just...get comfortable…” he said softly. “I’ll be here whenever you need me, as a good friend you can depend on...or at least I’m going to try to be that from now on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so I’m a huge Ambi shipper, and I know the last story had Jambi, but this is not that story. Jonah has his own story coming, so Andi and Jonah are just going to be good friends. Let me know what you think and give me a “HELL YEAH” if you believe platonic cuddling SHOULD be a normalized thing, whether between male and female friends, two female friends, or two male friends, regardless of sexuality.


	11. Complications

**Andi POV**

Andi woke up in Jonah’s arms for the fifth morning in a row, and smiled when she heard his light snoring. He had a lot of trouble sleeping so hearing any snore come out of him meant that he was getting better, and he slept better knowing that he was helping Andi sleep better. His need to be caring and compassionate to others overpowered the pain of withdrawal, and having someone with him distracted him from his pain. Meanwhile, having someone hold her, it chased off her feeling of loneliness, the loneliness she felt after she was violated, and the one she felt while she was pregnant all over Europe and Asia with Cece. 

Jonah shifted in his sleep, slowly waking up with the sunlight. He gave Andi a light squeeze then looked over at her. “Morning Andiman…”

“Morning Jonah,” she yawned back, stretching. “I see you got a little bit of sleep…”

“Yeah...you’ve been helping me sleep by being here, I guess,” he said. “You’re a calming presence when I’m not trying to be a boyfriend,” he chuckled. “I was really bad at that.”

“Yeah...you were,” she admitted with a laugh. “But you’re the best kind of friend, and soon you’ll make some girl really happy.”

“Or boy,” he said. “I think I was on crack when I realized I liked guys too...and that’s an actual sentence that came out of my mouth…” he said. “No wonder you guys were all worried about me.”

“Yeah...you tried...almost everything I think…”

“Heroin and prescription pills are what I was on the most,” he said. “I broke in to some houses for it...never got caught, but I felt bad about taking everything from them...so I always left at least a twenty when I left. Didn’t do it often…”

“I didn’t know about the houses…”

“I’m not proud, but if I go to Juvie for it...I don’t know if I’d be able to get clean…”

“And you wouldn’t ever get custody of Phoenix no matter what,” she said. “If anything can keep you clean, taking care of him should be it, at least.”

“I wanted to be clean for a while...really…” he said. “I don’t like who I am when I’m high...I just sometimes feel like I’ve got no choice...y’know...once I got started...it’s not easy…”

“I know it’s not,” she said. “But now you’ve got an incentive and a support system.”

He smiled and hugged her tightly, making her giggle a little. Then they heard a throat clear at their open doorway. 

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Amber asked. 

“Not at all,” she said. “Just talking.”

“Should I be jealous?” She half joked, the other half wondering if there was anything happening. 

“Not in the slightest...unless you’re talking about comparing heat quality,” Andi said. “Come here! He’s a human space heater! I barely need blankets sometimes!”

Amber laughed, feeling relief. “I know. I cuddled him before you cuddled him…”

“And before we cuddled each other?”

“Exactly.”

Amber laughed and got in bed with the two of them. “You’re just lucky you’re cuddly Jonah.”

“It’s a gift and a curse,” he quipped.

“Since we’re here…” Andi said. “Movie before we meet up at the mall with our friends?”

* * *

Buffy and Cyrus were the first ones at the mall, with T.J. and Marty showing up just after having taken T.J. Jeep to arrive from the Kippen house. Buffy and Cyrus went over to kiss and hug their respective boyfriends and Amber gave Andi a kiss on the cheek so she wouldn’t feel left out. Jonah looked around and then shrugged, deciding to hug himself and exaggerate a kiss on the back of his hand. The others looked at him and laughed a little. 

“What? You guys all had someone!” He said with a smile. 

They chuckled and started walking towards the food court for lunch, T.J. holding Cyrus by the shoulders, Buffy and Marty holding hands, and Amber and Andi walking side by side with Jonah on Andi’s other side, all seven of them talking and having a good time. 

At least, it was a good time, until Andi stopped cold in her tracks, seeing someone. Amber followed the look and instantly got the emotion behind it: pure fear. Amber shared a look with Jonah and followed the look to a red headed boy who was headed in their direction. Instantly, they didn’t like the way he looked at Andi, like she was another notch in his headboard. They looked at her and saw her step back and instantly stepped in front of her, shielding her. 

“Can we help you?” Amber asked, her voice oozing of her old mean girl fake “sweetness.” 

“I think I just see my friend...Ally…?”

“You don’t even know her name,” Jonah said. He didn’t have any sweetness in his voice. It was hard and protective. 

“Sorry, we only had one class...and one slightly drunk after party…” he flashed a gross smile. 

“I wasn’t drunk,” she said softly. Buffy and Cyrus immediately shared a look with each other, asking each other a silent question.

“Well...shy then,” he said.

“Not shy...I wasn’t shy when I said no.”

Both of their eyes widened in realization and T.J. accidentally squeezed Cyrus’s shoulder too hard trying to keep composure. Marty narrowed his eyes at the redhead in front of him. 

“Come on...you didn’t really mean it…”

“I did. The first time...and the second…” Andi got bolder. “And all the way up until the fifteenth. After that, you were done and you left.”

“It was a hookup.”

“I wouldn’t call it that.”

Amber took Andi’s hand. “Now,” she said. “I don’t know how you are, and frankly, I couldn’t give a shit who you are,” she said. “But you think about coming near Andi again, and you should know, protecting her are two jocks,” she pointed at T.J. and Marty. “Someone who came out of juvie after going in for fighting,” she pointed at Buffy. 

“And me,” Jonah said. “A junkie trying to get clean.”

The guy actually looked afraid for a bit. “That bitch got me on academic probation.”

“And you got me expelled,” she snapped back. That shocked everyone and they looked at her for a second but then refocused on scaring him away, seeing him run off like a scared child.

Then they turned back to Andi. “You were kicked out?” Buffy asked gently.

“For breaking SAVA’s morality code,” she spat out, trying not to cry. Cyrus and Buffy put their arms on her shoulders and they all went to an empty corner of the mall, isolated from everyone where nobody would overhear or see them. 

“You don’t have to talk…” Cyrus said, even though he wanted to know the full story. 

“I broke SAVA’s morality code because of him...because I got…” Andi sniffed.

“Andi...is Phoenix…?” Buffy asked and she nodded. 

“Phoenix isn’t my adopted brother...he’s my kid...and I asked Bex and Bowie to raise him for the time being…” Andi said. Cyrus and Buffy hugged her as she started to cry. “When I wasn’t able to get rid of him...I thought he deserved a chance...and being raised by Cece before Bex took over...that was the best thing that ever happened to me. He should have the same…” 

“But…”Cyrus hesitated. “What about the father? He might ask in the future and...who are you going to say it is?”

“Me,” Jonah said. “Andi asked me...and put me down on the birth certificate.”

“Jonah...you…?” Buffy looked at him shocked. Even T.J. and Marty were shocked, absolutely speechless. 

“He’s really good with him,” Andi said. “He impressed us all.”

“You’ve changed,” Cyrus said. “In a good way though, space otter.”

“And Andi…” Buffy said. “We’re the Good Hair Crew, don’t ever think we won’t stand by your side no matter what you go through.”

“We’re best friends...all of us,” Cyrus said. “Even if some of us lean more towards the dating side,” he teased.

She laughed and hugged the two of them, which led everyone into a group hug. 


	12. Twists and Turns

**Buffy POV**

Buffy was jogging through the park one morning. Marty and T.J. had taken Jonah out for a game of baseball to get his blood pumping, and Andi and Cyrus were staying at the Mack home to play with Phoenix, who was apparently Andi’s son! And if Buffy didn’t have to worry about juvie and probation, she might have beaten that entitled redhead’s ass close to death. 

She needed this jog more than anything, to clear her head and get her in a stable mind, and the cool morning air was the perfect way to go. Unfortunately, no good things can last, because someone else also wanted to go on a cool run.

“Driscoll, hi,” Kira greeted her, turning to jog next to her, her voice oozing with a tone of entitlement. “It’s been too long.”

“Yup, almost a year since you sent me to Juvie,” Buffy said back coldly. Do not engage, no not provoke, do not give her a reason. That’s how she had to act throughout her time there, and that’s how she had to act now around Kira. 

“I think you sent yourself there,” she said. “When you punched me and pulled my hair?”

“After you outed all of my queer friends? Publicly? To the town and state? Yeah...that was an emotional attack first.”

“That’s not what the court saw,” she said. “I was only trying to help those poor homos find salvation and a good path.”

“You caused them to get kicked out of just about anywhere they can go and anything they can do,” she said. “And forced Marty to go in female only spaces, which is not cool.”

“You mean Maria, right? That’s what her parents call her.”

“Marty doesn’t live with HIS parents anymore. He’s with the Kippen’s now...no thanks to you.”

“She moved in with the family that has two deviant homos? Bold of her.” 

Buffy took a deep breath. Do not provoke, do not give her a reason...even if Kira was gift wrapping reasons for Buffy to rip her face off. “He’s just trying to be happy, and you’re trying to ruin everybody’s life it seems. I know you’re the one who called in the alcohol in my name at my welcome back party.”

“It’s a party, we’re high schoolers,” she said with fake sweetness. “Thought you’d like people to get loose and have fun.”

“I’m not going to break my probation, and I only want to be on the basketball team so I can get my scholarship and get out, since you also took my captainship away from me.”

“I earned that captainship in your absence,” she said. “And I don’t plan on giving it away anytime soon.” All the sweetness left her voice. “Watch your step Driscoll, my dad only has to make a single call and you’re spending all four years in juvie...and maybe he’d also find help for your friend Jonah?”

Buffy stopped in her tracks. “I can handle whatever you throw at me Kira, but don’t you dare hurt any of my friends on the way of your twisted little revenge plot for whatever wrong you think I caused you.”

The two girls stared each other down before Kira started taking some steps back. “Hope I never have to see your face again...and maybe I won’t…” she turned over her shoulder and started jogging in the opposite direction. 

Buffy tried not to scream out and instead went back to jogging, worry starting to mix in with her anger. Kira wouldn’t really do all that for some convoluted revenge plan that Buffy didn’t think was justified...would she?”

* * *

**Jonah POV**

It was possible that Jonah was warming up to the idea of waking up at 6 or 7 in the morning during the summer to run with his friends. He felt the urge to use less and less, and playing music for Phoenix made him happier than he could even remember being with his mother before she went to prison. 

He was happy, and it felt good being able to think that clearly. “I’m happy,” he breathed out, folding his laundry and packing his things in the drawers. He felt a little bad that he was more at home living in the same house as his ex-girlfriend rather than with his own father after everything that happened, but the two of them were driving each other to find comfort in substance abuse rather than each other, and his father had no intention of getting better. But Jonah did, and he was managing his phantom pains just fine.

Andi still had to sleep with him at night to distract him from his pain, and he still had trouble falling asleep, but he now saw his insomnia as a superpower of sorts. Being awake meant he was the first who could take care of Phoenix...his son, as Andi told him he should get used to saying. She said that even if in the future, she and her future wife (which he had a feeling of who Andi was hoping for) were the ones raising Phoenix, she wanted him around as a father figure, to be the father, when Bowie took over as a grandfather. 

He smiled at that. No matter what he went through, Andi trusted him. Even through their relationship ups and downs, their breakups and fights, she trusted him, and she loved him, even if it wasn’t romantically. But they worked now, and they worked really well. 

He felt something in his drawer as he was putting away some shirts and he pulled it out, then stared at it. 

The orange capsule bottle felt like it burned in his hand and his eyes couldn’t look away. He saw the white label, with directions for Eveylin Marquis to take two doses of OxyContin a day for managing pain from her knee surgery, and the white childproof cap, with instructions to press down on the sides and top before unscrewing. He saw the little white tablets shaking around inside. There was still half of the bottle in there.

He remembered that he sold his guitar at the pawn shop to be able to buy it from some guy who was selling his late mother’s pills...and how desperate he was for them since his old heroin dealer was arrested and he hadn’t found a new one yet. He remembered the pain he felt at that moment, like he wanted to tear out his skin and soak his muscles in anesthesia. He felt like he was dying...he felt like dying was easier. 

The memory of the pain was almost starting to bring that pain back, and it was so easy to open the cap and pop some of those tablets in his mouth. It was right there...and he had a bottle of water on his nightstand right there. He could easily just…

A baby’s cry interrupted his thoughts and he realized his hand had automatically loosened the cap. Just a simple pull, and the pill bottle would be open, with those little tablets mocking him, tempting him, begging him to take them. Phoenix cried again and he looked over in the direction of the nursery. If he took those, everything he worked for...everything for him...that would all be gone…

“Hey Jonah, I thought you were…” Bex stopped by his door and stopped when she saw what was in his hand. “Jonah...I don’t know what’s going on in your head...but doing that...it’s…”

“It would be one of the biggest mistakes I could make,” he said, still staring at it, but he started making his way to the bathroom, with Bex watching him cautiously. He lifted the toilet seat and dumped the contents of the bottle into the water and pressed the handle to flush it, watching his weakness go down the toilet. He tossed the empty bottle into the little trash can there and turned around to see Bex tearing up.

“Jonah...I am so, so, so incredibly proud of you,” she said, going forward to hug him tightly, kissing his forehead. He smiled and hugged back, blinking back tears. She was proud of him...he wouldn’t trade this feeling for anything in the world. 

* * *

It was around dinner time when Marty started pounding on the door. All the Macks and Amber were sharing some pizzas when they saw him through the door and opened it, watching him stumble through. 

“Jonah! You have records of all your rehab visits, right?” 

He frowned, looking around. It almost seemed too coincidental for Marty to be asking him this after what he went through earlier that day with Bex and the Oxy pill bottle. “Yeah...they recorded each time I was found and what I took and how long I was there for.”

“Did they also have you record all your transactions? Ever?”

“All of us. Dealing or selling. Why?”

“Because Buffy’s parole states she can’t hang around known dealers! Kira told the cops that you dealt! She’s in holding right now!”


	13. The Break

**Jonah POV**

It took almost the full night of searching through all files and boxes, but Jonah was able to track down every single one of his arrests and rehab records. He was fortunate that every time he was arrested for drug possession, he was so tweaked out of his mind that the cops immediately sent him to rehab after calling his dad. Bowie helped him search for all the loose papers until they had them all collected and put in a single file. 

When he got them all collected, he still went into bed, but he went to Andi’s room instead and laid down just so she could cuddle him and attempt to get some sleep herself. He knew that his own ability to sleep would be a lost cause, especially since Kira was using him,  _ him,  _ to send Buffy back to juvie.

He sighed and scrolled through his phone, texting Marty that they got everything under control and that they were going to go to the jail first thing in the morning. They wouldn’t even have transported her to juvie yet. Cyrus was spending the night in Jonah’s room so that only two cars were headed to the jail, T.J.’s Jeep and his own Honda CR-V. 

Jonah counted down the minutes before everyone was ready and heading out to the local youth jail, where Buffy was sitting in holding with one other girl who looked like she was tweaking. “Is...is that what I looked like?” He asked Cyrus softly. Cyrus nodded and squeezed his arm.

“You’re not that guy anymore.”

Jonah nodded and made his way to the officer who was waving them over. They all huddled into a separate room away from the jail cells and Jonah sat directly opposite the officer, clutching the brown folder with all of his papers. 

“Mr...Beck, yes?” He asked, and Jonah nodded.

“Yes sir...Jonah Beck.”

“You’re a former drug dealer? Because Miss Driscoll is not allowed to associate with any dealers past or present. That’s in direct violation of her parole.”

“No sir,” he said. “I’ve never dealt...only bought and used. I’m a reforming addict…”

“Reforming? You’re not reformed yet?”

“Sir...I was deep in the hole but...I have a reason to go forward this time.”

The officer sighed and held out his hands for the papers. He looked through all the records to see that his charges were for possession and never distribution. “You said you had a reason to keep going…” he paused reading one of the last documents in his file. “Is your son the reason?” 

Jonah nodded. “Yes sir...my son…” he said shakily. “That still takes some getting used to…”

“You’re an addict raising him? Son that’s…”

“He’s being raised by the mother’s parents...the grandparents,” he said. “I’m not intending to be a...primary guardian unless I have to…”

“Are you living in that house.”

“Yes sir, but I’ve been clean since I moved in,” he said. 

“When did you move in?”

“Seven weeks ago.”

“Would you consent to a urine test to prove such?” 

Jonah nodded. “Urine, blood, whatever would get Buffy out of here. She’s like...at least forty percent of the reason that I’m clean…” he said. “She’s been helping me replace my bad habits with good ones, and she’s such a good friend...do you know how much of a good person someone has to be to willingly wake up someone with withdrawal to go on a run through the park?”

The officer softened his gaze. “This entire time I’ve known her, she’s been a model parolee,” he said. “Sometimes makes me doubt whether or not she should have been in there in the first place…”

“She wasn’t meant to,” he said. “We all know it...even the girl who keeps trying to send her back.”

* * *

Jonah stood outside the testing room awkwardly. He had to fill the urine cup with the officer having an unobstructed view, and then wait in the facility while the test was being run.

“Well,” the officer said coming out. “You’re telling the truth. No drugs in your system newer than seven weeks, and Buffy’s been out for just over that,” he said. “She’ll be free to go once I process some new things.” He said, and then he stopped and sighed. “If...if you and her friends and family decide that...she’d be better off living elsewhere...I’ll approve her transfer paperwork.” He went back into his office alone. 

Jonah let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and thought hard about what the officer just said. She could transfer out of Shadyside...away from Kira...away from her friends...He sighed again. Maybe there was more that they all needed to talk about.

* * *

**Amber POV**

Buffy was let out of there in less than an hour later, and Marty immediately hugged her, kissing her. The officer led her away and told her she had a mandatory pregnancy test to do since she had a boyfriend, and Marty’s face lit up a little at being referred to as a boy, since nobody in Shadyside accepted his gender identity. Buffy didn’t even protest after seeing his face and she disappeared. 

Jonah sighed and looked over at the group. “You know...her P.O. said that since there’s a chance Kira might have it out for her...he’d approve any location transfer for her…”

“Really?” Amber said, the gears in her head starting to turn.

“But...she’d never leave without us…” Andi said.

“Maybe she should,” Marty said. “As long as Kira is sitting around, Buffy will never have a free moment again. Kira could ruin her chances at college even…”

“Here she has to be on guard all the time...and she’ll never be able to be on the basketball team and do what she loves,” Cyrus said. 

“Guys, I think we’re missing one very important part of this conversation,” T.J. interrupted. “Buffy. No matter what we think, it’s still her decision in the end…”

* * *

Amber sat in her room later that night looking things up on her computer, doing some research and writing down numbers. She was hatching a plan, maybe the only plan, to end all of this bullshit right there.

Amber was determined now. No more suffering.


	14. Resolutions

**Amber POV**

Amber looked checked her email daily, looking nervous as she did. Since the arrest, Buffy has stayed inside her house almost the entire time and if she left, it was only to go to someone else’s house. Looked absolutely miserable and just laid around watching tv or reading. Everyone was starting to get seriously worried. Amber wanted to kill Kira for doing this, and the worst part was, she wasn’t sure Kira knew the full impact of what she was doing, or cared for that matter. 

Amber knows the mind of a bully, she used to be one. Until she learned how it truly was, and that other people struggled, not just her, she knew she wanted to change. It was finding help that she was able to. T.J. tried to offer Kira that help a long time ago, but there’s only so much someone can do for a person without feeling the toxic effect themselves. T.J. was right to drop her when he did. He should have dropped her earlier, but he would have felt guilty if he thought she could have changed and he gave up on her too early. 

Amber just wanted everything that her friends dealt with to be over. She wanted Marty to be somewhere that he wasn’t called a girl, somewhere that wouldn’t care about T.J. and Cyrus dating each other even though they were boys, for Andi to be far away from seeing her rapist and give her the breathing room she needed from her baby until she was emotionally ready to come back, and for Jonah to be away from his past, where people didn’t see him as “the addict,” maybe somewhere he could go back to being his guitar playing sunshine self. Of course she would love erasing the past, but she knew that wasn’t possible, but if there was a chance of them moving away from it...adding some physical distance...maybe that could be enough.

So when the day came where she checked her email and saw exactly what she was hoping to see, she smiled widely and made several thousand calls, or what felt like it, to all the parents. 

* * *

She called everyone for a meeting at Andi Shack, smiling at the envelopes she made and printed out for everyone. She had bought and stuffed backpacks and hid them in her car, which she then transferred to a hidden section behind Andi Shack before the rest of the crew came together (that part required Bex and Bowie’s help in distracting and moving everything. Then she hid all but one envelope in her purse, smiling as everyone came in. 

“Hey, what’s all this about?” Buffy asked. 

“Beats me,” Andi said. “This is all Amber.”

“Amber calls a meeting inside Andi Shack?” Cyrus said. “Well...weirder things have happened.”

“I would have done it at The Spoon,” she said. “But the public is super homophobic and I wanted a parent, and baby, free place.” 

“So...you gonna tell us what’s going on Ambrose?” T.J. teased her with her real name, putting his arm around Cyrus. Luckily she didn’t care that much about her real name as T.J. did. 

“Maybe I will Tyler Johnson…” she teased back. 

Andi, Jonah, and Buffy gasped while T.J. smirked. “Still not my name!”

“Oh come on!” Buffy said. “Literally only three of us don’t know what your real name is!”

“Everyone who knows is either a Kippen,” he pointed at Amber. “A Kippen in practice,” he pointed at Marty, who had officially turned the Kippen house guest room into his personal bedroom and given his guardianship rights over to T.J. and Amber’s mother.

“And a soon to be Kippen,” Cyrus teased, pointing at himself.

“Then in theory we’re all Kippen-in-laws!” Buffy said. “Tell us!”

“Actually…” Amber said. “T.J., if you agree to tell everyone your name, under threat of excommunication if either of you are mean or make fun of him,” she said staring everyone down, giving them a chilling reminder of her “mean girl” days, “I’ll cut to the chase of why I called everyone here.”

He sighed as Buffy, Jonah, and Andi kept pestering him. “Alright alright!” He said. “I suppose we’ve reached that level of trust,” he looked around. “You know how our mom is super into music, right?” They nodded. “My name...is so fucking stupid.”

“It’s a great name!” Cyrus said. 

“Do you even know one of the artists referenced in my name?”

“...I may have had to google it…and a Shrek reference may have come up…”

“Don’t remind me,” he groaned. “My name is Thelonious Jagger Kippen.”

“Well,” Jonah said. “At least you have a very creative name. I mean...Jonah?” He said. “It’s so unoriginal.”

“And I named my kid Phoenix,” Andi said. “And my name is Andi. Plus, my dad goes by Bowie. Do you really think conventional naming runs in the family?”

T.J. smiled. “I forgot how great you guys are…”

“And don’t you dare forget it, Thelonious,” Buffy gave him a little punch on the arm. “But I am definitely finding out what character you are in Shrek.”

“It’s Lord Farquad’s henchman,” Cyrus said. 

“Traitor,” T.J. gasped in mock horror. “And you,” T.J. pointed at his sister. “You said you’d cut to the chase.” 

“I did,” she said, and she pulled out an envelope with “Buffy” written on the front in pretty lettering. She handed it to her and everyone watched Buffy open the envelope. 

“What is it?” Andi asked, and Marty started reading over her shoulder. 

“It’s...an acceptance letter?” Buffy said. “To the Paris Olympic School of Sports Science?”

“Yeah...I applied for you,” Amber said. “Obviously it's your decision about what to do regarding it...but it’s kinda like my fashion school, but it’s about everything involving sports. There’s sports medicine, sports strategy...even sports diplomacy...and every year they get to go to the Olympics for free.”

“Amber...this is really cool...but...I mean...how did I get accepted?”

“I send footage of you playing, and of you coaching...they absolutely loved you, and your P.O. said that if you want to go, he’ll approve it and you only have to check in at the U.S. Embassy every month…” Amber said. “What do you think?”

“I mean...this is amazing...but...going means…”

“You should go,” Marty said. “If you stay here, Kira’s never going to let up.”

“You’ll never have a moment’s peace,” Cyrus said. “And Amber would totally look out for you.”

“We’d miss you like hell Driscoll,” T.J. said. “But this would probably be better for you.”

Amber tried to talk but Buffy started up again. “It’s something to think about guys. I already spend almost the full year separated from you guys and I don’t know if I can handle that again…”

“Hey! Guys!” Amber finally got their attention. “Buffy’s not the only one who got accepted to Paris.” She pulled out the other envelopes and handed them to each person.

“If you’re sending me to a sports school Amber...clearly you didn’t pay enough attention,” Cyrus joked. 

“I’d never put you in a position like that Cy Guy,” she teased. They all opened their letter and read it. 

“Hey, I also got in the Olympic School of Sports Science!” Marty said. “We could be together in class again.” He put his arm around Buffy. 

“The Academy of Art! Louvre Adjunct?!” Andi said. “I’m taking art classes in the Louvre?!” 

“Meanwhile I’m got into one of the top film schools of the world!” Cyrus said freaking out. “Cannes Liaison School of Film in Paris! They have actual Cannes Festival Filmmakers come in and do weekly lectures, and the top directors teach classes there! Guillermo del Torro is an Adjunct professor there!”

“Paris Orchestral Preparatory School?” Jonah said confused. 

“I got in that one too,” T.J. said. 

“Yeah...it’s a really good music school that’s not too far from Paris School of Fashion,” Amber said. 

“Amber, are you being 100% serious? Like what? We’d all move in together?” T.J. asked. “None of us speak French.”

“Well, they’re international schools. There are equal amounts of classes in French and English, and you’d learn French, like I did this past year.”

“And what? Just...leave Shadyside?” Jonah said. 

“During the school year,” she said. “Obviously we’d come home over the summer and whatever, and then maybe the assholery we deal with won’t be as bad,” she said. “Or we wouldn’t care as much. And I already found the perfect apartment. Upper floors with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a huge living room and kitchen… a place we could set up some instruments and crafting tables and whatever we need...Not to mention both the fashion and art schools have their own studio spaces...and I’m sure there’s practice rooms and recording studios in the music schools. And before you say anything else...everybody’s parents already said yes, so it’s up to you.”

Marty, T.J. and Jonah looked at Buffy, Andi, and Cyrus. “You three are the ones who started all of this,” Jonah said. “We’ll let you guys decide.”

The three founding members of the Good Hair Crew looked at each other and it was like they could read each other’s minds when they smiled and Andi took Amber’s hand. “When do we leave?”


	15. Une Vie Nouvelle

**Amber POV**

Amber smiled as she finished unpacking the last of the boxes before she hugged Andi from behind. “Can you believe it?” She said smiling, kissing Andi’s cheek. “We’re officially happily away from Shadyside.”

“Away from all the bigoted assholes, in Paris of all places!” Andi said. “World cultural center of all art, and the city of love!”

“Just like I love you, ma cherie?” Amber said.

“Definitely,” she said. “Just like I love you too.” She turned around and kissed her holding her close. “I also can’t believe that me, you, and Cyrus are the only ones who don’t have school uniforms,” Andi said. “Wonder how long everyone is going to be out to get them?”

“PDA alert!” Buffy said opening the door. She and Marty both had several bags with their uniforms folded up. Amber and Andi separated, still holding each other. 

“We weren’t doing anything inappropriate,” Amber said. “Don’t be homophobic.”

“Yeah, as if we’re homophobic,” Marty said pointedly. “I’m just glad the rules for parole here are drastically different.” He pulled Buffy in from behind and kissed her neck, to which Amber and Andi protested, declaring a double standard.

“Oh shut up, I had to go through three parole hearings for him to be able to do this with me!” Buffy said. “Now we’ve got to prepare for the first day of classes in a few days,” she said separating from her boyfriend. “We could head to the gym…” 

“Or we could have the type of exercise you weren’t allowed to participate in before the third parole hearing?” He suggested flirtatiously.

“Gross!” Andi said, throwing a dishrag at them. “Before any of that, you have to help put away the groceries I just brought up. We’re living alone and independently, which means making our own damn food.” 

“Alright, alright, we’ll be responsible,” Buffy said, gently pushing Marty off of her for good before the two of them started unpacking things from the reusable bags into the cupboards and fridge. Then Cyrus loudly and dramatically opened the door. 

“The music school uniforms should absolutely be illegal!” He said with a beet red face from blushing. 

“How bad is it?” Amber asked, but Andi shook her head. 

“Wrong question.”

Jonah and T.J. followed him through the door. Both had slightly, yet adorably disheveled white button down shirts, dark green vests and matching ties with black slacks and shoes. Jonah had put on a matching dark green blazer with the school’s logo on the right breast pocket, but T.J. had rolled up the sleeves of his button down to his elbows. 

“Oh...I get it now,” Amber said. “Green has always been Jag’s color.”

“You must be loving that they know my name now, don’t you?” He asked Amber, crossing his arms, somehow making Cyrus turn even redder. Buffy tried not to laugh at her best friend and put an arm around him. 

“Do you know how hard it was, watching my nicknames for you around everybody?” She said. “Besides, Jag is my thing for you, like how Cyrus calls you Teej, or Not-So-Scary-Basketball-Guy?”

“Now it’s Ridiculously-Handsome-Piano-Player,” T.J. said with a satisfied smirk.

“Oh is it now?” Amber thought he was full of himself until she looked at Cyrus who nodded a little. “Oh my god it is,” she said laughing a little. “That is a wonderful nickname, but I think I have to tweak it.”

“Oh my god Ambrose,” he rolled his eyes and looked over at Cyrus to smile and look at him lovingly. “Do you guys need help there?”

“They’ll have to deal without our help!” Cyrus said, marching over to T.J. and grabbing him by the tie and leading him to their room. Thankfully they all chipped in to have all the bedrooms soundproofed before they moved in. Marty watched Cyrus drag his boyfriend into the room and closed the door and widened his eyes at Buffy and Amber. 

“Why couldn’t I do that?” He whined a little. 

“Because we know Cyrus,” Buffy said. “He might literally explode if he had to see T.J. wearing that and moving around while not touching him. Though…”

“Though?” Andi asked. 

“That begs the question why Jonah and T.J. had to leave the school wearing the uniforms they were only supposed to try on today,” Buffy said. “While Marty and I were able to change back into our street clothes.”

“Yeah...why did you have to wear your uniforms out?” Marty asked. 

Jonah laughed a little before pulling a fifty euro bill out of his pocket. “We didn’t...but T.J. wanted Cyrus to think that we did…”

“That sneaky son of a bitch!” Amber said. “He knew exactly how Cyrus would react!”

“It’s a green vest and tie,” Andi said. “Literally anyone who’s known Cyrus for five minutes knew exactly how he would react to T.J. wearing that uniform.”

“And you let them?” Amber slapped Jonah’s arm, and he laughed. 

“T.J. started the bidding at five euros,” he said. “He would have gone up to thousands if I let him. I decided to let him have at least *some* money for the rest of the week.”

* * *

**Two years later**

There were five Goodmans, five Macks, two Driscolls, one Beck, and four Kippens (including the recently officially adopted Martin Rodrigo Sousa-Kippen) sitting at an outdoor table in a restaurant in Paris, celebrating the graduation of the seven youngest, excluding the baby, members from their respective schools, and what they were planning on doing in the future.

T.J. had accepted a music teaching job at a middle school in a New York City public school while becoming a part time student at Juilliard for his degree. He and Cyrus already found an apartment to live in while Cyrus went to film school at NYU. The two were sitting side by side at the table, holding hands while they ate and smiling widely, no matter the conversation around them. They loved living and loving openly, not worried about homophobia and being able to go out together, and call each other their boyfriend. Sometimes they still flinched, expecting a negative response, but always let out a sigh of relief when people nodded and smiled and continued on like there was nothing different than them introducing someone to their girlfriend. 

Buffy and Marty were also going to New York, but Buffy was going to be an assistant coach to the United States Merchant Marine Academy basketball team, and Marty was also going to NYU, but he was studying sports medicine. He also had his top surgery the year earlier and already lined up a potential doctor for bottom surgery, but he was still debating whether or not he did in fact want to go through with it. But he was absolutely grateful that his fantastic girlfriend always kept reassuring him that it didn’t matter what he decided in the end, he wouldn’t be any less of a man.

Andi and Amber had decided to stay in Paris for just another six months to finish up their respective fashion and art internship programs, and then they were going to start their Freshman year during the spring semester at NYU. But since everyone was moving out, they already ended the lease of the giant apartment and were subletting a small one bedroom in the fifth arrondissement for the time being. But they were promising everyone to be in much more contact than Amber was in her first year in Paris.

Jonah was the one staying the farthest away from everyone. He got a recording deal to write and perform theme songs for some T.V. Shows in L.A., and then had some auditions lined up on Broadway in New York as soon as his contract was over. He and Andi discussed it with Bex and Bowie and decided that they were only going to take over as the parental figures for Phoenix after he turned eight, at least. They needed several more years to be emotionally ready to be parents instead of a “fun uncle” and “crazy sister.” Amber also already enthusiastically agreed to be a mother to Phoenix as well.

Everyone laughed as Cece finished some story regarding her slapping a botany club member for saying that she was the den grandmother to several sinners, and T.J. looked over at his boyfriend. Cyrus looked absolutely, radiantly happy and the two’s eyes met and T.J. decided he couldn’t wait a second longer. 

He got up, still holding Cyrus’s hand and called for everyone’s attention. “Since I can remember, these guys have been my support group, my redemption, the people who called me out on my shit,” he said gesturing to Buffy, who laughed and shouted.  _ ‘I still do!’ _ “And I can trace it all back to teaching a shy middle school kid how to get a chocolate chocolate chip muffin.” Everyone smiled at the story, and Cyrus blushed slightly at the memory. “Since that day, There have been swingset talks, somersaults, dirt bikes, and Lady Gaga songs, and a bench in a backyard that have progressively made my life better, and one person in the center of it.” Everyone was looking at each other with knowing glances, and Cryus’s eyes widened, with things clicking in place. So when T.J. got down on his knee, Cyrus shot up to his feet gasping and holing his other hand over his mouth while T.J. dug into his pocket and pulled out a box. “Which is why I can’t imagine going another day without you. Cyrus Goodman…?”

Cyrus was crying and looked away. “Goddamnit...you big jerk,” he said with a light laugh between his tears. 

“Wait...what?” T.J. looked at him confused and Cyrus started digging into his own pocket with his free hand and pulled out a ring box himself. 

“You stole my moment!” He said laughing and crying, and T.J. started laughing and crying as well, his own head imploding at that moment. He even had to hide his own face in his elbow, turning as red as Cyrus was and then looking back up at him with hearts in his eyes. 

“So it’s not a no…?” He joked and Cyrus pulled him up before kissing him.

“I don’t think I could ever, *ever*, say no to you, Thelonious Jagger Kippen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d like to thank everyone for sticking with this story. If you haven’t already, check out my other completed story “Hand Drawn Sleeves” and my soon to be completed story “The Houseguest.” From there, I’m going to work on my Hogwarts AU “Incredibly Enchanted” and requested prompts for one-shots that depending on the prompt, might turn into more.   
If you want to request a prompt yourself, you can find me on my tumblr “thegayagenda-forkids” or “abg-blah.”  
Please comment on what you thought of this story overall, even if you’ve commented before, ESPECIALLY if you’ve commented before and please share this with your friends! I love seeing new comments every day. If you want me to keep my spirits up during law school (which I officially start tomorrow, y’all), either comment on this story or get your friends to comment on it every day!
> 
> A love you all!
> 
> Have a magical day!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr either as “Trinity-Of-DefendingDorks” or “Abg-Blah.” Please leave a comment and Kudos! And feel free to share wherever!


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